Take My Breath Away (Colour)
Alpine, Texas – 2025
“Few movies have had such an impact on popular culture as Tony Scott’s Top Gun. Released in 1986, the film became a cultural phenomenon and gave a material boost to both US Navy and Air Force recruitment. It remains Tom Cruise’s biggest box office success, with inflation adjusted sales of nearly $500m against a modest budget of just $15m.
The film is also remembered for the character Charlie played by Kelly McGillis. In a male dominated environment, she ruled the roost. Berlin’s song, Take My Breath Away, which won an Academy award for Best Original Song,
became synonymous with the movie.
Her impact in the movie was central to my thought processing at Alpine Airport in West Texas when I took this photograph. I needed my model – Holly Graves, (who is in fact Texan) – to own the frame, and I think she does exactly that.
It’s not breaking new ground to couple femininity with the contours of a vintage aircraft. Norman Parkinson introduced this creative formula 70 years ago. I think the challenge is to get the composition and the scaling right. There needs to be a balance between the two key subjects.
We would like to thank General Ron Fogleman – a decorated Vietnam veteran – for making this project possible by bringing his A-26 Invader to West Texas. This was no half-hearted Hollywood prop; the plane participated in the Battle of the Bulge in 1944.”
-David Yarrow
Available Sizes
Large - Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 45” x 103" in (114 cm x 262 cm)
- Framed Image: 60” x 118” in (152 cm x 300 cm)
Standard - Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 34” x 69” in (86.5 cm x 196 cm)
- Framed Image: 49” x 84” in (125 cm x 234 cm)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your artwork. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
Sinclair Oil (Colour)
Alpine, Texas – 2025
“In early 2025, I stumbled across a 1942 Sinclair Oil advert featuring a photograph of a cowboy on a horse racing against a low flying American Airlines Douglas DC7. Sinclair supplied American Airlines with engine lubricant and the advert was a simple play on horsepower. Like many of the commercial adverts of that period, the message lent on the contribution to the war effort.
The connectivity between horse and flying machine in the image was visually arresting and told a wonderful story. The creatives behind this piece of advertising art will no longer be with us but deserve great recognition.
We started to spitball a few ideas to make our own version of this photograph. Camera capability may have come a long way in the last 80 years, but the nerve to fly 50 feet off the ground in a decent size plane is still not for everyone and we needed to find a pilot who embraced our ambition and would be game enough to join us in this homage to a piece of World War II history.
We chose Alpine Airport in West Texas as our location for three reasons. Firstly, the airport sits in a stunning amphitheater with mountains to the west and south of the main runway. Secondly, the owners of the airport seemed to be our kind of people, who want to make things happen rather than find reasons why they should not. Thirdly, there would be no shortage of skilled cowboys in the area who could navigate their way through the horse part of the story.
Our pilot – Roger Woolsey – is a gem of a guy and used to low flying. His fabulous 1944 A-26 Invader that we used that day was active in The Battle of the Bulge in World War II, so the story came full circle.
This project would not have been possible without the help of the decorated Vietnam veteran – General Ron Fogleman – who introduced us to Roger and his team.“
-David Yarrow
Available Sizes
Large - Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 50” x 103" in (127 cm x 262 cm)
- Framed Image: 65” x 118” in (165 cm x 300 cm)
Standard - Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 34” x 69” in (86.5 cm x 175 cm)
- Framed Image: 49” x 84” in (125 cm x 213.5 cm)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your artwork. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
The Book of Daniel (Colour)
Dinokeng, South Africa – 2022
“Good creative ideas are only as good as the execution and when I conceived the idea of a literal photographic depiction of Daniel in a cave with wild lions, I recognised that pulling it off in the field would be as examining a production challenge as anything we had undertaken.
The fact that we ended up with this image – a career highlight – is testimony to the skills of many South Africans with whom we collaborated on this project, none more so than Kevin Richardson, The Lion Whisperer. It was his behavioural understanding of specific lions within his famous sanctuary that gave me the confidence to even consider emotionally and financially investing in my mad idea. We have worked with each other for over eight years now and have developed a mutual trust. To build a cave and work from within that cave with wild lions is not a brief for a nascent relationship between artist and lion whisperer.
We both agreed that pivotal to the success of the final image was that
the lions we worked with should be interacting with each other and not me. If they were looking at me in the front of my heavy-duty cage, it would suggest
encroachment and the involvement of another party. There were no third party witnesses to Daniel in the cave, other than spiritual ones.
The lighting was also key and we needed time to look at various options to create the shaft of light. Without a light shaft, the sense of being in a cave would be diminished as opposed to amplified. It was this feature that would also add to the biblical vibe of the photograph which was essential; after all, we were working from the Bible. The low trajectory of the winter sun in Kevin’s conservation was in our favour and suggested that between 9 am and 10 am the light shaft could have the right angle so long as the hole in the cave’s ceiling was accurately positioned.
The plan was that Daniel was the final piece in the jigsaw and we would only bring him in when all else was done, albeit I had a precise position for him in my mind. Kevin’s lions would not show any mercy to our modern-day Daniel and we would never suggest that this image was anything less than two pictures combined.
Good things take time and I always knew this would be a three-day project for me on location. The predictability of the winter weather in the region was a key asset; the cloudless skies gave us identical light day after day and that then gave us optionality and time.
But for others the project was a month, not three days, and I am full of gratitude for the artistic skills of those that made the cave and the attention to detail of the production team led by Theuns De Wet in Johannesburg and Tom Williams in London. From start to finish, this was a team effort and all involved will, I hope, share my pride in the final outcome. I know Kevin does, and that is always the acid test.
There is absolutely nothing in this image I would change and it is authentic for sure. I doubt the idea can ever really be copied, but good luck to anyone that gives it a go. The cave has gone.
Normally our work is in black and white, but I just can’t decide whether I prefer the colour option, so on this occasion there are editions of both.“
-David Yarrow
Available Sizes:
LARGE: Edition of 20 + 3 AP
- Image: 56" x 98" (145 x 249 cm)
- Framed: 71" x 113" (180 x 287 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 20 + 3 AP
- Image: 37" x 65" (94 x 165 cm)
- Framed: 52" x 80" (132 x 203 cm)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your artwork. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
Hotel Bond (Colour)
Furka Pass, Switzerland 2025
“No film franchise has enhanced the fame of specific locations more than Bond. To be the backdrop narrative to a sequence in a Bond movie – no matter how dated – bestows heavyweight status on the map coordinates. It is product placement at its most acute level.
In 1964, Goldfinger, the second 007 movie, was released and, in retrospect, it was the key to the franchise. The movie recouped its investment in just two weeks and is still cited as the film that established many of the iconic elements and tropes of Bond movies. For many aficionados, Goldfinger is THE Bond movie – Rotten Tomatoes – the exacting review aggregation website, score it at 99%.
Goldfinger rammed home the Box Office of Sean Connery and brought names like Oddjob and Pussy Galore into our lives. It also made famous the hairpin bends of the Furka Pass in Switzerland and the quintessential Belle Époque buildings lining its route. The jewel in the crown of these is the iconic Belvedere Hotel – which sits precisely on the inside of one of the hairpins. It is an Alpine monument to the glittering days of the Swiss hotel industry in the late 19th century.
I do not like driving, or even being driven, on mountain pass roads – especially ones with token barriers accompanying 3000-foot drops. Bond may have enjoyed his car chase on this road, but I am no Bond and this project certainly reminded me that I have some embarrassing vertigo issues.
The Furka pass is inaccessible until late May and, given my leaning to film with as much snow in the backdrop as possible, this was always going to be an early June shoot. The Belvedere Hotel is long closed for business and I want to thank the owners for allowing to us to open the shutters and somehow put some lights on. I am sure Wes Anderson would have done the same and it did make all the difference.
If there was ever to be a Bond Hotel – I think it should be here.”
-David Yarrow
Available Sizes
Large - Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 101" in (142 cm x 257 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 116” in (180 cm x 295 cm)
Standard - Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 67” in (94 cm x 170 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 82” in (132 cm x 208 cm)
We ship worldwide and use a multitude of providers to safely deliver your artwork. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
The Black Panther Club (Colour)
Dinokeng, South Africa – 2025
Archival Pigment Print
“The making of this photograph has been on my mind since I saw the promotional material that accompanied Nat Geo’s Black Panther film release of 2020. The posters leant on composite art not a photograph and whilst they were very true to the panther’s facial structure, it is not easy to achieve the highest of granularity in the face with a paint brush. Nevertheless, the PR campaign certainly grabbed the attention with the black negative space adding to the sense of the panther’s menace.
We set about building a structure in a black panther’s 4-acre sanctuary in Dinokeng, South Africa and brought in a heavy-duty cage for me to work from and then it was simply an exercise in patience as well as the unique talents of Kevin Richardson – The Lion Whisperer. Our 12-year friendship has forged exceptional trust and we both know how to get the best out of each other. There is no way we could have taken this image a few years back – we have learned and iterated. Panthers are dangerous and safety and creativity had to find a balance. At all times I was working from the cage.
The key to me in this one off portrait is the position of the pupils in the panther’s eyes. They equate to less than 1/400th of the total photograph but they elicit a proper sense of menace. A bit lower down in the eye and his menace is lost. It is about the smallest of details and today’s cameras, in low light, are high performing enablers.
I think the cinematic format is perfect for this photograph. After all, the term Black Panther elicits heavy Hollywood vibes. It is an animal that has created many metaphors.“
-David Yarrow
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 49″ x 103″ in (124 x 262 cm)
- Framed Image: 64″ x 118″ in (163 x 300 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37″ x 78″ in (94 x 198 cm)
- Framed Image: 52″ x 93″ in (132 x 236 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 Lion (Colour)
Dinokeng, South Africa – 2025
Archival Pigment Print
“I had a peculiar dream recently in which I was having a drink in an isolated, but unidentifiable, members only bar. It was a cold and rainy evening and the bar represented a place of relative warmth and comfort. There were a handful of customers in the club and I have no idea why my unconscious mind was taking me here – it was certainly not a place known to me. I have had the odd drink alone in a bar when the weather has been awful outside, but it’s not an obvious lifestyle trait.
Anyhow, at some stage there was some noise outside and the barman asked me to open the door to the club and check out what was going on. I did as requested and there, in the doorway, in the pouring rain, was an enormous male lion.
I woke up immediately in a panic and remembered the dream more vividly than normal. The imagery of the wet lion standing in the rain stayed with me and as time passed, I started to muse as to how we could create such a photograph. The idea was certainly authentic and I knew with the help of my dear friend Kevin Richardson – The Lion Whisperer – that anything was possible.
Kevin and I spitballed over the phone as to how we could make this happen. It was not an easy premise to convert as lions do not like to get wet and will either seek shelter or shake off any surplus water immediately. But we worked out an approach with the rain and coupled that with a cage set up that would keep me safe. The key was then to convey a sense of nighttime even though we would be working at dawn.
I haven’t seen a picture like this before and even better, I have never had the dream again. They are both hopefully one-offs.“
-David Yarrow
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 49″ x 103″ in (124 x 262 cm)
- Framed Image: 64″ x 118″ in (163 x 300 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37″ x 78″ in (94 x 198 cm)
- Framed Image: 52″ x 93″ in (132 x 236 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.
Someting's Gotta Give (Colour)
Dinokeng, South Africa – 2025
Archival Pigment Print
“This is Thor – the lion that I am most wary of in the world. He is a rare white lion who lives under the loving care of Kevin Richardson (The Lion Whisperer) in his sanctuary in South Africa. I have known Thor for 10 years, but neither his age nor familiarity have led to a mellowing of his behaviour; he would kill me in 10 seconds given half a chance.
I am always in a cage when filming Thor and more recently a cage within a further cage. We made this extra defence as last year he tried to dig under the cage to get to me. It’s not a comfortable experience. There is a calm countenance to this preconceived portrait that is at odds with his basic instincts and the reality of the situation.
It does not take top percentile visual sensibility to recognise the splendour of white lions and my goal on this set was to celebrate every detail of his face. In this kind of light, there is every chance, provided Kevin, with his unique ability, can facilitate the engagement.
I loved the film Something’s Gotta Give and it’s not a bad title for this portrait. I often think of that beach house in the Hamptons and its emblematic cocktail of whites and creams. I think Thor would have fitted into those interiors seamlessly from a visual perspective but may have impacted the calm serenity of that rarified stretch of Long Island.”
-David Yarrow
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 60″ x 56″ in (152 x 142 cm)
- Framed Image: 75″ x 71″ in (191 x 180 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 40″ x 37″ in (103 x 94 cm)
- Framed Image: 55″ x 52″ in (140 x 132 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.
Gone Fishing (Colour)
Funnel Creek, Alaska – 2025
Archival Pigment Print
“The volume of salmon in this river in Katmai, Alaska during late July/early August pushes the odds in favour of the bear. Their hit rate may be less than 20%, but that still means they should catch a salmon within a couple of minutes of a period of frenzied fishing. The old, experienced bears tend to have a higher success rate and go about the whole process with a nonchalance born out of historically high hit rates.
The odds of success for the photographer are far lower than for the bear. There are so many more variables at play and most of them are outside of the cameraman’s control.
Ideally the bear needs to be close and head on to the camera and that outcome tends to be as much about luck as rigorous predictive analysis. I also much prefer flat, calm light as opposed to strong and directional, whereas the bear doesn’t care one bit.
-David Yarrow
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56″ x 58″ in (142 x 147 cm)
- Framed Image: 71″ x 73″ in (180 x 185 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37″ x 38″ in (94 x 97 cm)
- Framed Image: 52″ x 53″ in (132 x 135 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.
Players (Colour)
Wellington, Florida – 2025
Archival Pigment Print
“My sense is that the leading figures in the equestrian capital of the world – Wellington, Florida – have game. This is not a place for meekness or routine existence, it is a community where life is attacked in an uncompromising way. People back themselves in Wellington and back themselves to win. Whether they be polo professionals, showjumpers, horse capitalists or team owners, this is a place of “Players”.
If a great storyteller like Taylor Sheridan focused his pen and his creative rigour on a town like Wellington, I pondered what the posters for the TV series would look like. There would have to be a sense of place and meanwhile the protagonists would have sexual allure and a hint of mischief. The vibe would be far removed from one which focused on the repetitious and painful monotony of daily life that so many people have to endure. It would be a story of privilege, ambition, vice and sexual tension. That combination always makes for good TV.
These tableaux photographs are always complicated by the introduction of animals into the narrative as they tend not to listen to my instructions. But pictures of Wellington without horses and dogs risk missing key parts of the jigsaw. Beautiful cars are also an integral part of the mix.
-David Yarrow
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56″ x 96″ in (142 x 244 cm)
- Framed Image: 71″ x 111″ in (180 x 282 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37″ x 64″ in (94 x 163 cm)
- Framed Image: 52″ x 79″ in (132 x 201 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.
Palm Beach Girls (Colour)
Palm Beach, Florida – 2025
Archival Pigment Print
“The corollary of Palm Beach being the most exclusive enclave of wealth and privilege in America, is that it draws in the beautiful people. This is the way it works the world over, but maybe no more so than in Palm Beach. Love, lust and ambition are never too far beneath the surface. This may not be a place of work ethic, but it is a place of desire.
In 1873 a shipwreck brought coconuts to the area leading to the planting of palm and the renaming of the area from Lake Worth Country to Palm Beach. But unfortunately these days there are not so many palm trees on the beaches – the town’s name cannot be taken too literally. But a couple of miles north of the island there are a couple of ideally positioned palms on Riviera Beach that have long grabbed my attention.
The premise of photographing girls on a beach is something that slightly unsettles me. I am not a glamour photographer or indeed a fashion photographer, and it’s hardly a novel place to focus one’s lens. If the key to art is authenticity, the alarm bells start to ring when I walk onto a beach at sunrise with two models.
I needed compositional tightness and the right use of space; this was not a brand commercial and there was a necessity to make sure that we did all we could creatively. The girls understood my directive leaning and this helped enormously.”
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 73″ x 56″ in (185 x 142 cm)
- Framed Image: 88″ x 71″ in (224 x 180 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 48″ x 37″ in (122 x 94 cm)
- Framed Image: 63″ x 52″ in (160 x 132 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.