Jackson Hole, Wyoming – 2024

Archival Pigment Print

“The onset of winter divides opinion: for some it is a time of increased cost of living and a daily life with less optionality; for others it is eagerly anticipated as a time of celebration, festivities and the possibility of winter sports. Winter rewards some and punishes others.

But there is perhaps unity in the idea that this time of year can showcase the world at its visual best. For filmmakers, snow offers an extra character for free and that is something we have always embraced. It is a time to be in the field and not huddled by the fireplace watching movies.

This image of a large bull moose in the sage flats in Teton National Park has an emphatic sense of winter and that was my goal. It had snowed about six inches the night before and the photograph, taken around 07.30am, is elevated by the fresh snow cover and the sign of an early winter storm lifting. There is no better time to photograph than at the end of a snowfall; the flat light enhances the ethereal splendour of what the storm has left behind.

We have learnt a great deal about moose behaviour and we know each situation is different. They can be extremely dangerous animals and should not be approached. This photograph was taken after three days monitoring the behaviour of this specific bull. “ – David Yarrow

Jackson Hole, Wyoming – 2024

Archival Pigment Print

“The grandeur of the Tetons has been celebrated by artists for 150 years. It was an integral part of Thomas Moran’s life and, of course, the mountain range played a material role in the photographic journey of Ansel Adams. His legacy still holds a tight grip on a Jackson Hole community hosting hundreds of capable photographers every week.

As an artist, it is a place in which to enjoy the visual overload rather than attempt to break new ground; that would be a fine trick. I have long been an admirer of the photographer Tommy Mangelsen whose body of work is a love letter to this pocket of America. For many years we have shared the same New York Publisher – Rizzoli – and he sets a high bar with his body of authentic images in the Tetons and beyond.

I have a good friend in Jackson, who, for many years, has made a living by ploughing snow on private roads in the winter months. It is his business to know every road in the community and in the days before my arrival he scouted the land either side of these single-track roads for big bull moose. They are not that hard to find in the area near Kelly – especially in late November and December – but I needed to be in situ very early in the day.

It was never going to be easy to get a Cigar Shot as there needs to be a sense of place in any picture taken here. Not to include the Tetons in the frame would be akin to filming in Zermatt and not including the Matterhorn. They are on a par as backdrops.

To have the Tetons as a canvas requires a high cloud or no cloud and I have always tended to prefer flat light rather than shooting with a harsh sun behind me. But there is a small window after sunrise when the sun finally hits the flats, but not in a garish way. I guess there is about 15 minutes of softness when the camera has every opportunity to capture textural detail and employ meaningful depth of field.

In those 15 minutes, we just got lucky with this one fraction of a second and I thank my friend Westy for all his homework, his eyesight and his understanding of moose behaviour.” – David Yarrow