The Beach Boys
Atrani, Italy – 2024
Archival Pigment Print
“The beach at Atrani on the Amalfi Coast may lack the pristine white grandeur of the beaches of Pampelonne in St Tropez, and it comes without illicit tales of Brigitte Bardot and Roger Vadim or the international jet set, but it is no poor cousin, as it boasts of as timeless and historic a backdrop as any beach in the world. It is picture postcard Italy at its celestial best.
Telling a story with a backdrop as visually arresting as this has its challenges; it is easy to fall into the trap of being gratuitous. I was not the first photographer to stand here and I won’t be the last. In the same way that it is creatively timid to simply plonk a cowboy in front of the Grand Canyon, I knew it would be artistically lame to take an individual portrait in front of that famous stretch of the Amalfi Coast.
I found some inspiration from Mario Testino’s work in Copacabana Beach in Rio some 26 years ago and I am never ashamed of being a sponge. As Ansel Adams instructed us, “photography is often about the pictures of others”, but we just need to execute in our own way.
The beach boys I used that day were all Neapolitans and I told them to enjoy themselves with Brooks Nader – a leading Sports Illustrated swimsuit model and a girl with absurd energy levels. This was not their hardest day at the office, but equally, they had to be as natural and as free as the seas to their left.
Photographing a group is never easy; most images don’t stack up as one person can tend to kill an image. But there is a unity of joy in this image and everyone is bang on. It could have been taken 50 years ago and that was very much my intent.” – David Yarrow
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 63” in (142.2 cm x 160 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 78” in (180.3 cm x 198.1 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 42” in (93.98 cm x 106.7 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 57” in (132.1 cm x 144.8 cm)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your masterpiece. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Asmus Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
The Fisherman's Wife
Fiordo Di Furore, Italy – 2024
Archival Pigment Print
“Antonio, my friend and fixer in Positano, is rightly proud of his 80-year-old father, Vito, who has been an octopus and lobster fisherman on the Amalfi Coast all his working life. That is a tour of duty that currently spans 62 years and there is no sign of an imminent denouement. He has leveraged his familiarity with the Tyrrhenian Sea to maximum effect and leads a full and happy life.
Like so many skilled Neapolitan traders, he has no elevated sense of worth, simply regarding himself as the current incumbent of a family practice passed down from generation to generation. There is a palpable sense of custodianship and duty that humbled us all.
It is not easy to navigate a fishing boat into the visually arresting and tight Fiordo di Furore, but I knew I wanted to film Vito working his craft in there because the backdrop is ridiculously good. It is one of the great sights in the whole of Italy, but that is a known known, and by 9.30 am it is too crowded with tourists and beachgoers to film. It is an early morning gig for anyone in my profession or a winter job.
When we arrived at the ocean entrance at around 8.10 am, I had the famous Sports Illustrated swimsuit model – Brooks Nader – in our boat as we were transferring her by sea between sets (that is the only way on the Amalfi Coast). As our two boats united in the narrow fjord entrance, I could see Vito’s excitement at my company and meanwhile Brooks is far from shy. Spontaneously, we transferred her into his boat and both boats fought with currents and waves for the right angle for the camera. It was not easy for anyone, least of all Brooks with that lobster.
For a glimpse of a second, it came together, and we had our playful parody. When the cameras were laid down and calm was restored, I asked Vito – “What can we tell people? Who is the woman in your boat? What is the story?”
“It’s my wife, of course”, he replied with the deadpan face of an Amalfi fisherman who has seen most things in his 80 years.”” – David Yarrow
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 57” x 56” in (144.8 cm x 142.2 cm)
- Framed Image: 72” x 71” in (182.9 cm x 180.3 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 38” x 37” in (96.52 cm x 93.98 cm)
- Framed Image: 53” x 52” in (134.6 cm x 132.1 cm)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your masterpiece. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Asmus Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
The Amalfi Coast
Atrani, Italy – 2024
Archival Pigment Print
“It is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone”. – John Steinbeck, 1953.
Steinbeck nailed it, but on his travels, he often did, and his observations are timeless. What was true in 1953 remains true 70 years later. The Amalfi Coast is the great creator’s aesthetic masterclass and, in this most spiritual of places, there can be no accommodation for those failing to give thanks for their brief tenancy. We are blessed to be here and this coveted corner of Italy reinforces the compass that always points to the celebration of life.
I wanted to take a picture not only to evoke a sense of joy but one rich in Italian narrative. There needed to be some visual chaos but at the centre of it I wanted to convey an easy admiration for the best things in life. There is nothing to be ashamed of in enjoying the beautiful things: whether it be cuisine; fashion or people and Italians seem to be more comfortable with this default position than most.
I chose Atrani for this photograph partly because it is timeless and partly because the stairs off the main square lead the eye and the windows frame the subject. It is a wonderful canvas from which to work and it is no surprise that big Hollywood projects such as Ripley and The Equaliser 3 have recently been filmed in this small gem of a town.
Brooks Nader is a star and I often work with her. She is not only striking, but she emotionally engages in every role I ask her to play. She is also great fun to be with. This was not her hardest role, she just had to be herself.” – David Yarrow
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 64” in (142.2 cm x 162.6 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 79” in (180.3 cm x 200.7 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 42” in (93.98 cm x 106.7 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 57” in (132.1 cm x 144.8 cm)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your masterpiece. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Asmus Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
The Road to Amalfi
Atrani, Italy – 2024
Archival Pigment Print
“A corollary of life on the road, is to build up a mental collection of favourite journeys. Most roads only offer a perfunctory way of getting from A to B, but then there are the gems where the journey itself becomes the main event. My home country, Scotland, has the A82 through Glencoe; America has the stretch through Monument Valley, Highway One and many more; Iceland has its entire ring road and then there is the Amalfi coastal road in southern Italy.
It is almost incumbent on any movie director filming in the area, to emphatically locate the destination by celebrating the road. That is instructive as it suggests that to ignore the means of travel is to forget a prop.
The road is terrifying and breathtaking as one: hugging the cliffs on one side and offering vistas of the Tyrrhenian Sea on the other. John Steinbeck wrote of the terror of winding through the Amalfi Coast on a road that “corkscrewed on the edge of nothing”, clutched in his wife’s arms who was “weeping hysterically”. Every hairpin bend is a prelude to a new visual feast, and none more so than the bend heading west before Atrani. I knew, at some stage, this bend would find itself in front of my camera.
My leaning was to style a 1970s period shoot with a model capable of capturing the effortless grace and sexuality of Italian models of the time. She had to own the scene without impairing the visual feast behind her. American Supermodel, Brooks Nader, works with us regularly and knew exactly what I wanted from her. It all had to come together in the few moments when the police kindly closed the road; this was not a set for deliberating.” – David Yarrow
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 64” in (142.2 cm x 162.6 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 79” in (180.3 cm x 200.7 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 42” in (93.98 cm x 106.7 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 57” in (132.1 cm x 144.8 cm)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your masterpiece. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Asmus Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
Tommy Tommy Tommy
Ischia, Italy – 2024
Archival Pigment Print
“I have enormous admiration for Anthony Minghella, the British writer and director who the world lost far too early in 2008. His attention to detail in movies such as The English Patient and The Talented Mr Ripley was palpable, as was his passion for personal location scouting. He was much loved by almost all those he encountered in his work, however fleeting that encounter may have been. He was just 54 when he passed.”
I travelled to Ischia and Procida in the Gulf of Naples, largely to pay homage to him and visit some of those cult locations from The Talented Mr Ripley. The beach scene at Bagno Antonio in Ischia, where Matt Damon’s Tom Ripley first deliberately encounters Dickie and Marge, was wonderfully crafted and it was so refreshing to hear from locals that the cast immersed themselves into the culture of one of the world’s most timeless of places.
After filming for three weeks in the area, I thought we had the resources to play a small parody on that specific beach scene. The visually arresting Castello Aragonese is, of course, still there, as are the owners of the beach club with whom Minghella collaborated. They could not have been more accommodating to our crew and I guess it brought back some fond memories for them. It’s not often you go to a beach bar and see faded personal pictures of Jude Law, Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and most of all, perhaps, Anthony Minghella glued to the wall. Ischia is a special island with a unique domestic vibe and when we left, we did so comforted by the knowledge that we would return as soon as possible; it is that good.
“I am a teller of stories, a weaver of dreams. I can dance, sing, and in the right weather I can stand on my head. I know seven words of Latin, I have a little magic, and a trick or two. I know the proper way to meet a dragon, I can fight dirty but not fair, I once swallowed thirty oysters in a minute. I am not domestic, I am a luxury, and in that sense, necessary.” – Anthony Minghella”- David Yarrow
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 93” in (142.2 cm x 236.2 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 108” in (180.3 cm x 274.3 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 62” in (93.98 cm x 157.5 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 77” in (132.1 cm x 195.6 cm)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your masterpiece. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Asmus Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
La Dolce Vita
Positano, Italy – 2024
Archival Pigment Print
Positano – the poster child of Italy’s Amalfi Coast – is best viewed from the sea. It is only from the water that its spectacular cliff hanging location is visually showcased and there is a palpable and most necessary sense of place.
This is the Italy that is loved across the world: for the pleasures and indulgences; its effortless style and its traditional values. We live in a beautiful world and the Amalfi coast reminds us of the need to retain that state of mind as firmly as any coastal region on the planet. It has a unique and visceral allure that can run very deep into the sensibilities of travellers and locals alike. The coastal communities can cast a spell and visitors extend stays, whilst locals seemingly never leave. There is generational continuity down here from fishermen to taxi drivers. It is difficult to conceive of a book being written about strong local communities across the world and Neapolitans being excluded.
When I was scouting in the bay off Positano in the spring, I was struck by the beauty of the light just before sunset. The view looking west to town is always intoxicating, but when the sun disappears behind the mountains, it darkens quickly and a new mood descends on the community. House lights come on and, rather like mobile phones at a Coldplay concert, their random formations add a new layer to the canvas.
My research suggested that there was a 15-minute window in the evening when there was just enough light to shoot from the sea, but it was dark enough for the town to be a “sky full of stars”. Shooting from a boat is never easy, but at twilight it is a particularly low percentage practice as the camera is working at the edge of its capabilities. The trick was to shoot over more than one night and wait for a calm ocean. Cameras have also become immeasurably more capable in low light, so the cameraman has more opportunity.
I recognise that one photograph cannot bottle up and fully embody the sensory overload evoked by Italy, but for those that connect with La Dolce Vita at its most indulgent level, this may not be far off their Italian ideal. It’s a dreamy photograph and that was always the intent.
I want to thank Kelsey Merritt who took time out of the Paris shows to work with me that day. She played the role of the quintessential Italian beauty with grace, confidence and intelligence.
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 79” in (142.2 cm x 200.66 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 94” in (180.3 cm x 238.76 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 52” in (93.98 cm x 132.08 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 67” in (132.1 cm x 170.18 cm)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your masterpiece. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Asmus Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
Rear View Mirror (Colour)
Lake Tahoe, California – 2024
Archival Pigment Print
“I am a student of the Alfred Hitchcock brand of storytelling and there may be something rather Hitchcockian about this narrative. The beautiful girl, driving an equally beautiful car, through the most extreme of winter passes, with a wolf perched high above analysing the situation. All the assets in play seem to complement each other, but only one party is perhaps alive to all the facts – the wolf.
Tall snow berms like the ones in the photograph are not easy to find these days and our research led us to Lake Tahoe in late April. The Sierra Nevada Mountain range still gets hefty 3-foot snowfalls in March; perhaps as much as any ski area in the world and this is where we focused our efforts.
Meanwhile, the 1953 250MM Ferrari, is a precious car and we needed to be very sure there was easy access to this location. So I guess we were being greedy as we wanted deep accumulations of snow, along with fresh snow on a newly ploughed road and then, somehow or other, the means to get the Ferrari in position on the bend in the road. We have little appetite for doing banal things that come easy.
When we arrived, the height of the berms offered an opportunity to use the black wolf we sometimes bring on set. It was not a preconceived idea and we remind ourselves that it is good occasionally simply to adapt to circumstance as you find them.
As always, we thank Brooks Nader for being such a laugh to work with on set – as well as being on point in her role playing.” – David Yarrow
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 60” in (142.2 cm x 152.4 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 75” in (180.3 cm x 190.5 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 40” in (93.98 cm x 101.6 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 55” in (132.1 cm x 139.7 cm)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your masterpiece. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Asmus Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
Rear View Mirror (B&W)
Lake Tahoe, California – 2024
Archival Pigment Print
“I am a student of the Alfred Hitchcock brand of storytelling and there may be something rather Hitchcockian about this narrative. The beautiful girl, driving an equally beautiful car, through the most extreme of winter passes, with a wolf perched high above analysing the situation. All the assets in play seem to complement each other, but only one party is perhaps alive to all the facts – the wolf.
Tall snow berms like the ones in the photograph are not easy to find these days and our research led us to Lake Tahoe in late April. The Sierra Nevada Mountain range still gets hefty 3-foot snowfalls in March; perhaps as much as any ski area in the world and this is where we focused our efforts.
Meanwhile, the 1953 250MM Ferrari, is a precious car and we needed to be very sure there was easy access to this location. So I guess we were being greedy as we wanted deep accumulations of snow, along with fresh snow on a newly ploughed road and then, somehow or other, the means to get the Ferrari in position on the bend in the road. We have little appetite for doing banal things that come easy.
When we arrived, the height of the berms offered an opportunity to use the black wolf we sometimes bring on set. It was not a preconceived idea and we remind ourselves that it is good occasionally simply to adapt to circumstance as you find them.
As always, we thank Brooks Nader for being such a laugh to work with on set – as well as being on point in her role playing.” – David Yarrow
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 60” in (142.2 cm x 152.4 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 75” in (180.3 cm x 190.5 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 40” in (93.98 cm x 101.6 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 55” in (132.1 cm x 139.7 cm)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your masterpiece. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Asmus Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
Ferrari II (Colour)
Amboy, California – 2023
Archival Pigment Print
In the 1950s, the Californian Dream made Route 66 the most famous road in the world. “The Mother Road”, as John Steinbeck described it in The Grapes of Wrath, became the route of flight for the American Middle Class; a trend accelerated by the rapidly evolving Californian economy and the opening of Disneyland in 1955.
The stretch of road heading east near Amboy in the baking Californian desert showcases the Route 66 journey as it once was. The sense of scale offers the filmmaker a valuable tool kit and I have been drawn to this outpost for many years. It is a commitment of time to get there, but one that many road trippers make because of the iconic Roy’s Motel and Cafe which serves as the one identifiable landmark in a barren desert.
Amboy is a known known and I worried how I could break new ground because like all spectacular vistas in the US, it has been well photographed. The challenge is not in getting there, but in transcending when one does.
I called upon a Hong Kong friend who is a passionate investor in vintage cars and owns one of the most lauded and valuable collections in the world. I explained the shoot concept and he graciously offered up one his most coveted treasures – the 1953 Ferrari 250 MM Vignale Spider. It was one of only 12 built in the world and when one comes up at auction, they sell for more than a London townhouse. His team was kind enough to transport this fabled Ferrari 1,000 miles across the country, but at least when they arrived, they understood the opportunity. It was going to be a trip well made.
The design of the Ferrari was perfect as its low windscreen allowed my lens direct access into the faces of the girl (the wonderful Daniela Braga) and the wolf. They could then hold centre stage and let all the other constituent parts play off each other.
The goal of this shoot was to play on the metaphor that is Route 66. It encapsulates the American Dream, as it was the road of freedom and ambition. Go West, work hard, stay focused and enjoy the very best of lives.
We styled to the mid 1950s and I told Daniela to exude a sense of positivity. She should look, as Nat King Cole suggested, that she was “Getting her Kicks on Route 66”.
Hard not to in that Ferrari.
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 59” in (142.2 cm x 149.9 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 74” in (180.3 cm x 188 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 39” in (93.98 cm x 99.06 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 54” in (132.1 cm x 137.2 cm)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your masterpiece. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Asmus Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
St Tropez
St. Tropez, France – 2024
“Brigitte Bardot enjoyed using her Albatross speedboat in St Tropez and we sensed that if we could source a vintage one, it would be a useful prop for this parody; it played emphatically to the era and the location. We did find one, but it had to come all the way from Goodwood in the UK.
The buildings in La Ponche have a weathered timelessness that I knew would serve us well and then I just needed a composition to showcase a sense of place and a sense of a very specific woman. Nadine Leopold has a breezy nonchalance that made her ideal for the role and we both knew the head angles could offer some anonymity. I have worked with Nadine before and she is a delight.
It is not easy to make someone look like someone else and to do it in a way that is nether cheap nor gratuitous. My leaning was to photograph her out of the boat as that would give us the most scope to build a wider narrative and even include some determined paparazzi on the shore.
The aluminum structure of the boat’s hull threw off some useful reflections when facing the rising sun and as this detail started to show itself, I adapted my plans and Nadine’s position. It never pays to be too prescriptive.
The goal was to take a picture with an unambiguous sense of place and sense of a specific era. This is St Tropez – the most idyllic and storied resort in the world and the place that Bardot called home.” – David Yarrow
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56" x 87” in (142.2 cm x 221 cm)
- Framed Image: 71" x 102” in (180.3 cm x 259.1 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 57” in (93.98 cm x 144.8 cm)
- Framed Image: 52" x 72” in (132.1 cm x 182.9 cm)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your masterpiece. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Asmus Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.