Brigitte
St. Tropez, France – 2024
“I knew that to try and celebrate Brigitte Bardot’s St Tropez with a series of photographs would be to travel on a road littered with potholes. Whilst the idyllic charm of this most famous of seaside towns has a sense of permanency that touches only a very few communities, we would be trying to tell a story of an iconic woman without her being there. Parody or not, that is a dangerous game for a visual artist.
Locations were always going to be a central building block to this project and there were some important decisions to be made in a town that can be very busy. Early on we homed in on one area – La Ponche. It’s such an emblematic part of St Tropez: it was here that Roger Vadim rolled his cameras in “And God Created Woman” in 1958, the movie that made Bardot – his then wife – a world-wide sensation. With its narrow, cobbled streets and wider aesthetic splendour, La Ponche is the spiritual heart of St Tropez.
The harbour has several other attributes: it hasn’t changed much since 1958, it isn’t crowded with tourists at 6.45 am and furthermore, it is visually elevated in the first half hour when the sun rises from the east. It is also a practical location for an early morning shoot. La Ponche Hotel, where Bardot stayed during the making of the movie, is still very much in operation and became our own HQ for the shoot.
Gunter Sachs started romancing Brigitte Bardot in the mid 60s, she was often seen on his Riva Aquarama – Dracula. It is a boat that embodies the glamour and style of 1960s St Tropez and luckily through a long friendship with Gunter’s son Rolf, we were able to borrow Dracula for the shoot. That was a big break.
The hardest part of the jigsaw, however, was finding a balance between the model’s necessary anonymity and the sense that she could pass as Brigitte herself. We have worked with Frida Aasen before and felt confident that she could play the role prescribed. Frida had done her homework and understood her head angles and then it was simply hoping we would get one glimpse when it all aligned. She had to look the part.
I smile when I look at this photograph, in part because I sense some reward from the homework, the planning and then the spontaneity on the day. It all happened very quickly and long before most people in St Tropez were awake.” – David Yarrow
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 51" x 103” in (129.5 cm x 261.1 cm)
- Framed Image: 66" x 118” in (167.6 cm x 299.7 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 75” in (93.98 cm x 190.5 cm)
- Framed Image: 52" x 90” in (132.1 cm x 228.6 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.
Le Club 55
St Tropez, France – 2024
“I have huge admiration for Patrice de Colmont – the owner of the legendary Le Club 55 on Pampelonne beach near St Tropez. My fondness for him is not a self-serving emotion derived from being allowed to shoot at this club, nor is it simply because he continues to work as hard as he does to be charming and efficient to a daily clientele that in peak summer can exceed 800 covers. It is more because Le Club 55 has retained a unique vibe for decades. That is some trick for a famous restaurant and one achieved by so few. The credit for that must go to him and his daughter Camille.
Patrice has a cool insouciance that trickles down to his clientele and in so doing pays homage to the club’s roots. In 1955 Roger Vadim and his film crew who were shooting the love scenes for “And God Created Woman” mistook the driftwood furniture that Patrice’s father had laid up on his beach for a public restaurant. And so it was that Le Club 55 was born and the film’s lead – Brigitte Bardot – soon to be the world’s most famous woman – found her base camp.
There is, of course, an indulgence in life at Le Club 55, but it is accompanied by a chilled nonchalance that cannot be bottled. So many destination venues are ultimately ruined by the clientele that want to be seen there: it is the money that eventually wins the day, but here in Pampelonne, that effortless and visceral authenticity remains sacrosanct.
Here in the most idyllic part of the French Riviera, is a club that will always be sovereign and I sense that the behaviour is self-policed. In some ways it reminds me of Augusta, Georgia: the clientele may be very different, but the guiding principle is a deference to the past.
I wanted the picture to tell a story of people protecting their story, their beach and their club.” – David Yarrow
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 51" x 103” in (129.5 cm x 261.1 cm)
- Framed Image: 66" x 118” in (167.6 cm x 299.7 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 75” in (93.98 cm x 190.5 cm)
- Framed Image: 52" x 90” in (132.1 cm x 228.6 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.
1953 (Colour)
Lake Tahoe, California – 2024
“Ferrari was a great opportunity, but it demanded scouting for a location that was its aesthetic equal. The more grand the ambitions with a ‘tableaux’, the more vulnerable each of the constituent parts are to a sense of dragging the end photograph lower. Location scouting is an integral part of our working year, as storytelling rarely blossoms in a contextual vacuum.
The idea of using tall snow berms to frame the Ferrari and then offering a period James Bond type narrative, was not a new addition to our conceptual idea factory. It had been knocking around the edges for some time, but we simply did not know exactly where to find narrow roads shouldered by walls of snow 10 foot high. Weather patterns do not give the filmmaker the luxury of forward planning in something so specific and we need to plan well in advance.
What we did know is that these visuals tend to occur towards the end of the ski season at high altitude in both Europe and America. It is uneconomic to snowplough small private roads with further winter storms around the corner, but equally, as soon the spring thaw accelerates, the snow berms on ploughed roads lose their height and grandeur.
There was some precision required on timing and my intuition suggested that this was a shot for the third week of April, whether the location was in the Alps, the Rockies or the Sierra Nevada Mountain range.
We knew we would be filming in America after Easter and our research concluded that the ski area that tends to have the most amount of spring snow in the US is the Sierras. Historically the mountains above Lake Tahoe get dumped on in March and the snow above 7000 ft can still be very deep in mid-April. To shoot in California rather than Colorado was a big call, but we felt it gave us the best chance and the best access. The snow season runs late in Lake Tahoe.
Our team based themselves out of the old railroad town of Truckee, California and with the help of some properly informed mountain men, we found our precise location and went to work. When I arrived on set, it was one of the few times in the last few years when I have been visually arrested by what was in front of me. This was an exceptional setting and an entirely secret one too. Our timing and our planning was on the money.
I would like to thank Brooks Nader for being such an excellent 1950s girl and Chip Connor for lending me his prized 250 MM, Ferrari. Meanwhile, locals Stefan Moore and Troy Caldwell were rock stars making the berms high and safe. Every constituent part of this image was first class and in reality, I had the easy job.” – David Yarrow
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37" x 58” in (93.98 cm x 147.3 cm)
- Framed Image: 71" x 102” in (180.34 cm x 259.1 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 58” in (93.98 cm x 147.3 cm)
- Framed Image: 52" x 73” in (132.1 cm x 185.4 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.
1953
Lake Tahoe, California – 2024
“Ferrari was a great opportunity, but it demanded scouting for a location that was its aesthetic equal. The more grand the ambitions with a ‘tableaux’, the more vulnerable each of the constituent parts are to a sense of dragging the end photograph lower. Location scouting is an integral part of our working year, as storytelling rarely blossoms in a contextual vacuum.
The idea of using tall snow berms to frame the Ferrari and then offering a period James Bond type narrative, was not a new addition to our conceptual idea factory. It had been knocking around the edges for some time, but we simply did not know exactly where to find narrow roads shouldered by walls of snow 10 foot high. Weather patterns do not give the filmmaker the luxury of forward planning in something so specific and we need to plan well in advance.
What we did know is that these visuals tend to occur towards the end of the ski season at high altitude in both Europe and America. It is uneconomic to snowplough small private roads with further winter storms around the corner, but equally, as soon the spring thaw accelerates, the snow berms on ploughed roads lose their height and grandeur.
There was some precision required on timing and my intuition suggested that this was a shot for the third week of April, whether the location was in the Alps, the Rockies or the Sierra Nevada Mountain range.
We knew we would be filming in America after Easter and our research concluded that the ski area that tends to have the most amount of spring snow in the US is the Sierras. Historically the mountains above Lake Tahoe get dumped on in March and the snow above 7000 ft can still be very deep in mid-April. To shoot in California rather than Colorado was a big call, but we felt it gave us the best chance and the best access. The snow season runs late in Lake Tahoe.
Our team based themselves out of the old railroad town of Truckee, California and with the help of some properly informed mountain men, we found our precise location and went to work. When I arrived on set, it was one of the few times in the last few years when I have been visually arrested by what was in front of me. This was an exceptional setting and an entirely secret one too. Our timing and our planning was on the money.
I would like to thank Brooks Nader for being such an excellent 1950s girl and Chip Connor for lending me his prized 250 MM, Ferrari. Meanwhile, locals Stefan Moore and Troy Caldwell were rock stars making the berms high and safe. Every constituent part of this image was first class and in reality, I had the easy job.” – David Yarrow
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37" x 58” in (93.98 cm x 147.3 cm)
- Framed Image: 71" x 102” in (180.34 cm x 259.1 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 58” in (93.98 cm x 147.3 cm)
- Framed Image: 52" x 73” in (132.1 cm x 185.4 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.
Snowcat
Heilongjiang, China – 2024
“This portrait, taken in the heart of the Siberian winter, is elevated by the weather conditions at the time. On a clear sunny day, it would have been a decent image, but it is the falling snow and the flat light that deliver the needed mood and the sense of place.
I have been deliberating about photographing a Siberian tiger in the habitat that defines it for several years, but North China – where I took this image – had, until recently, been out of bounds for foreigners since Covid. Even now, it is not the most welcoming of places. It’s a long way from home, English tongues are rare and, in the winter, it can offer indecently low temperatures.
I recognised that I would need to allocate a good amount of time in the north to wait for the snowfall. Siberian winters are extremely cold, but it does not snow that often. There are many hours spent killing time in a hotel room but the accommodation is much more comfortable than it used to be. It is such a long way from home and there is little merit planning for a three-day visit anyway. It’s an odd job sometimes: I probably invested about 120 hours, including travel time, for two six second windows of opportunity.
On this trip I worked closely with the Chinese authorities and, in retrospect, this brief encounter was only possible because of the help of two or three extremely influential Chinese people. I am reminded that access is a key word in photography and this is normally achieved by investing in people. My charm offensive with my Chinese contacts was several months long. My team knows who they are and their stature within China, but no one else needs to know.
The question that I will be asked about this picture will simply be “how on earth did you get it?”. My answer would be two-fold. I was in a bespoke vehicle with a lower window opening, smaller than a tiger’s head, but larger than a camera lens. The second part of the answer is more important: it was by showing China and the Chinese some respect. Without that there was no chance. I know some people will criticise me for working with a country with a questionable record in conservation, but life is too short and I am an artist first and foremost.” – David Yarrow
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56" x 83” in (142.24 cm x 210.82 cm)
- Framed Image: 71" x 98” in (180.34 cm x 248.92 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 55” in (93.98 cm x 139.7 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 70” (132.08 cm x 177.8 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.
Pappy + Harriet's
Pioneertown, California – 2024
“There are few bars in the world that truly justify being labelled as cultural institutions: especially if they are marooned in a dusty, windy desert. But Pappy + Harriet’s, which has been hosting world class musicians in quirky Pioneertown on the edge of Joshua Tree National Park in California, can legitimately be tagged in that manner. Pioneertown is essentially a fake 1880s frontier town, but it is about as real as fake towns go.
Founded in 1982, Pappy + Harriet’s has hosted many celebrated music acts taking time out from nearby music festivals such as Coachella and Stagecoach. Some are coming to simply chill and catch the vibe, but that vibe can then be so seductive that they end up performing impromptu on stage: McCartney, Sting, Robert Plant and Patti Smith have played here, along with rock bands such as the Arctic Monkeys and the Dead Kennedys.
The crowd is a magical cocktail of cowboys, bikers, old-timers, creative artists and musicians and it is this assembly that has elevated a dusty old roadhouse into a joint whose status is secure. There is nowhere quite like it and it is a known destination.
On the day I was shooting in Pioneertown, I happened to be speaking to an old friend who is the President of Live Nation’s European division and when he found out where I was, his voice was excited as if I was on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. Much of the credit for the continued allure of this famed honky tonk must, of course, go to the founders – Harriet and her husband Claude “Pappy” Allen. He passed in 1994, but his keen artistic eye still stamps its authority on the interior details of the bar. That was important to convey in this image. After Pappy’s passing, the ownership changed hands a few times and now operates under the loving care of “J.B.” Moresco and Lisa Elin. I want to thank them for their kindness on the day of this crazy shoot. The joint is in good hands for another generation of lovers of life”. – David Yarrow
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56" x 99” in (142.2 cm x 251.5 cm)
- Framed Image: 99" x 114” in (251.5 cm x 289.6 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 65” in (93.98 cm x 165.1 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 80” (132.1 cm x 203.2 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.
Frozen Mountain
Spanish Creek, Montana – 2024
“This photograph, taken in the Spanish Creek region, near Bozeman, Montana, is made by the 18-inch snowstorm that had died out only 12 hours previously. It was late February and locals said that this was the biggest storm of the winter: so we were fortunate to be on site and fully prepared. The snow cover here tends to be less substantial than up towards Big Sky and we needed that snow cover. Whilst there is no more important variable in our planning than rigorous attention to trusted weather forecasts, we sometimes have to acknowledge that luck plays a big role. This was a lucky day.
I think that any portrait of a bull bison, in which this enormous and emblematic animal is perpendicular to the camera, must be more kinetic than a head on portrait, simply because there is no sense of engagement. The bison is behaving as normal and not reacting to my presence because I was hidden behind a rock. He may have smelt me but he did not see me.
It’s the small things that can sometimes elevate a picture. In this case, it’s his eye detail and then immediately below his face, the blades of grass caked in frozen snow. There is an emphatic sense of the cold, which is what I always strive for in my bison work. A similar portrait shot in summer would lose zest and a powerful narrative. Fresh snow is certainly a photographer’s friend”. – David Yarrow
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 40" x 103” in (101.6 cm x 261.6 cm)
- Framed Image: 55" x 118” in (139.7 cm x 299.7 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 30” x 78” in (76.2 cm x 198.1 cm)
- Framed Image: 45” x 93” (114.3 cm x 236.2 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.
The Lodge at Vail
Vail, Colorado – 2024
“The Lodge at Vail was the first proper hotel to operate in a resort that arrived at the Colorado ski party exceptionally late. The first stones of Vail were laid in 1962 making it the new kid on the block versus other Colorado ski towns such as Aspen, Breckenridge, or Steamboat Springs, which existed as 19th century mining towns prior to the establishment of their ski resorts.
To begin with, the hotel was a “white elephant”, losing $100,000 every year until the faux Bavarian town matured into something of substance. But to borrow from Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams, “If you build it, he will come” and sure enough they came. The Lodge at Vail became the epicentre of a town that enjoyed growing popularity because of its abundant skiing and ease of travel.
The facade of the hotel has not changed much for several decades and I thought I could use that as a backdrop, in much the same way we did at Badrutt’s Palace in St Moritz, Switzerland in 2023. That photograph – which lent on the glamour of the 1970s in the resort – was hugely popular. There was an element of James Bond to it coupled with intense femininity.
The formula worked and so this became the prompt for my shot outside the Lodge. After all, Vail became a place to be seen fairly quickly and by the mid 70s it was in vogue. Bohemian glamour was as prevalent in Colorado as it was in the Swiss Alps, maybe even more so.
Who better, therefore, than Alessandra Ambrosio – the Brazilian supermodel – to play the lead in this narrative. She has such presence and authority and is a joy to work with.
We would also like to thank Austin Akers for the use of the beautiful 1956 Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing”. – David Yarrow
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56" x 71” in (142.2 cm x 180.3 cm)
- Framed Image: 71" x 86” in (180.3 cm x 218.4 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 47” in (93.98 cm x 119.4 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 62” (132.1 cm x 157.5 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 Minturn Saloon
Minturn, Colorado – 2024
“The railroad and mining community of Minturn – which dates to the 1880s – allows for some raw grit to saddle up to the shiny neighbouring resort town of Vail. The contrast between the two places is astonishingly stark, given that they are only three miles apart. Whilst Vail was styled by architects and designers on Alpine Bavaria, Minturn was styled by grizzly prospectors looking only as far as the next day.
Vail was built 80 years after Minturn and when the contractors finished a day’s shift, they would head west to the Minturn Saloon. It was the place to go and 60 years on, despite some remodeling and ownership changes, it remains exactly that. All those who know Vail, know the Minturn Saloon. Rather like the Woody Creek Tavern in Aspen, it has fostered a strong patronage over the years and when the doors open at 3pm, the bar fills at a speed to suggest that this is a special and loved destination. As always it is the people that make the places and this bar attracts a rich variety of clientele.
Part of the saloon’s appeal was that it was directly accessible by skis, by car, by foot and by horse and it therefore became something of a vortex at the end of the day. By the 1970s, the Minturn not only attracted cowboys, builders and miners, but the new bohemian hipster crowd from over the hill.
I am always drawn to the visual contrasts afforded to a filmmaker when a wild frontier destination is fused with glamour. This was the premise for this story. I saw a chance to play with the cold winter light that day and the result works pleasingly well in colour.
Alessandra Ambrosio is one of the leading models in the world and it was a pleasure to work with her. She certainly killed her look and showed why she is at the top of her game. We would also like to thank Austin Akers for the use of the beautiful 1956 Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing.” – David Yarrow
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56" x 71” in (142.2 cm x 180.3 cm)
- Framed Image: 71" x 86” in (180.3 cm x 218.4 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 47” in (93.98 cm x 119.4 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 62” (132.1 cm x 157.5 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.
Code Red
Minturn, Colorado – 2024
“The railroad and mining community of Minturn – which dates to the 1880s – allows for some raw grit to saddle up to the shiny neighbouring resort town of Vail. The contrast between the two places is astonishingly stark, given that they are only three miles apart. Whilst Vail was styled by architects and designers on Alpine Bavaria, Minturn was styled by grizzly prospectors looking only as far as the next day.
Vail was built 80 years after Minturn and when the contractors finished a day’s shift, they would head west to the Minturn Saloon. It was the place to go and 60 years on, despite some remodeling and ownership changes, it remains exactly that. All those who know Vail, know the Minturn Saloon. Rather like the Woody Creek Tavern in Aspen, it has fostered a strong patronage over the years and when the doors open at 3pm, the bar fills at a speed to suggest that this is a special and loved destination. As always it is the people that make the places and this bar attracts a rich variety of clientele.
Part of the saloon’s appeal was that it was directly accessible by skis, by car, by foot and by horse and it therefore became something of a vortex at the end of the day. By the 1970s, the Minturn not only attracted cowboys, builders and miners, but the new bohemian hipster crowd from over the hill.
I am always drawn to the visual contrasts afforded to a filmmaker when a wild frontier destination is fused with glamour. This was the premise for this story. I saw a chance to play with the cold winter light that day and the result works pleasingly well in colour.
Alessandra Ambrosio is one of the leading models in the world and it was a pleasure to work with her. She certainly killed her look and showed why she is at the top of her game. We would also like to thank Austin Akers for the use of the beautiful 1956 Mercedes Benz 300 SL Gullwing.” – David Yarrow
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56" x 70” in (142.2 cm x 177.8 cm)
- Framed Image: 71" x 85” in (180.3 cm x 215.9 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 47” in (93.98 cm x 119.4 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 62” (132.1 cm x 157.5 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.