St. Moritz, Switzerland – 2023

“I sense that this photograph will mean much more to those who live and holiday in St Moritz than it will to outsiders and that was always my preconception.

The White Turf horse races on the frozen lake below Badrutt’s Palace Hotel draw large crowds when they are held on three consecutive weekends every February. It is a spectacle and an occasion more than it is a blue riband international sporting event, but the community embraces it to the full. The lake is busy in February, it also hosts car races, polo and even cricket matches and Badrutt’s watches imperiously above it all.

My idea was to bring a horse and jockey into the famous bar at Badrutt’s and I sensed that the hotel management – led by the GM, Richard Leuenberger – would be open minded to this. It is one of the peculiarities of St Moritz that despite its wealth and excessive glamour, there is not a stuffiness to the town. Instead, there is a sense of heritage and a keenness to celebrate that heritage. Horses and jockeys are part of that and Richard – who was a wonderful partner throughout this project – agreed to the idea.

There are few hotel bars in the world that have the history and the lure of the Renaissance Bar at Badrutt’s. There are no real rules at the bar, smoking is permitted and there is no closing time. My team was quietly setting up one morning at dawn and I wondered where the noise was coming from. I should have thought harder – the bar was still open.

Richard was keen that some of the legendary figures among the Badrutt’s 800 strong staff were part of the picture and I wholly agreed. Tenure of service is another distinguishing feature of this institution; I guess it must be difficult to leave.

I do hope that the hotel can find a place for this image, but I am up against an impressive art collection.”

St. Moritz, Switzerland – 2023

“The great contradiction of St Moritz is that for all its glamour, wealth and club culture, it is a  surprisingly inclusive place. The town is homely and welcoming before it is snobbish and elitist. For the cynics, this is unimaginable, but it is the reality and it is part of the fabric that makes the town so magical.

The artisans and farmers of the Engadin are accorded no less respect simply because they don’t shop at Gucci or lunch at the ski clubs in the mountains. The joy and happiness if living in this amphitheatre is not a tiered system. It envelopes the whole community and the community is better for it.

These thoughts were not far from my mind when I invited a goat and some farmers into the shoot at the famous Renaissance Bar at Badrutt’s Palace. They are as much a part of the Engadin community as the technology and finance titans who sip espresso martinis and smoke cigars on the old swivel chairs at the bar.

I wanted to center this story around Brigitte Bardot glamour. After all, she is an integral part of St. Moritz’s history. The girls in the frame – Nadine Leopold and Frida Aasen – were magnificent and styled wonderfully by the team and then we just had to fit in the lead staff of Badrutt’s and a few local bar regulars who may or not be GOATS in their own world. It was chaos but then again, that bar is never that orderly. This will always be a bar I want to go to. It’s an Agatha Christie set where everyone is innocent until they are not. It is theatre at its Alpine best and one-dimensional resorts like Courchevel cannot compete.”

St. Moritz, Switzerland – 2023

“I have long appreciated the visual power of old train tracks; when straight and shot head on, they grab and then lead the eye, which can help an artist’s communication with his audience. If those tracks head to a station whose architectural character adds a further layer to a story, then so much the better.

This austere old stop – called Ospizio – is saddled in the majestic mountains in the  Bernina Pass connecting St. Moritz to Italy. The station is an isolated monolith, gate-crashing one of the great railway journeys in the world. When I first stumbled across this grey and rocky outpost, I felt a visceral surge of creativity. I knew there was a powerful and authentic shot here and I don’t often get that feeling. This is the highest railway station in Europe.

My leaning was to shoot in the winter, as snow would complement the harsh and undecorated grey buildings. The Bernina Pass is surely personified by its harsh winter, not its glorious summer. This is James Bond country.

The proximity of St Moritz in the Engadine Valley below prompted me to contrast the harshness and timelessness of the location with the glamour for which St Moritz has long been famous. The celebrated Norwegian model – Frida Aasen – was perfect for the role and the styling was on point; the railway platform was her 1970s stage. She looked sensational in cold conditions in one of the great mountain passes in Switzerland.

Alone in such an extreme location, we could have been forgiven for playing to a sense of vulnerability, but that was never my direct. She owns St. Moritz and she hasn’t even got there. Besides, she has a big old St. Bernard to show her the way.

This project was a logistical challenge, but when I see the final print and Frida’s face, it was so worthwhile. This is old Switzerland at its magnificent best. There is nowhere like it.”