Devil's Backbone
Texas, USA – 2022
Devil’s Backbone makes claim to be “The oldest Dive Bar” in Texas. Situated on an earthquake fault, the historic venue offers spectacular views of the surrounding Texas Hill Country. The history dates back to the late 1890’s, when the first stone room was built for a blacksmith’s shop and a stagecoach stop at the base of a treach- erous trail. After Prohibition, the sale of alcoholic beverages, particularly beer, became licensed in early 1936 and the tavern was built a year later.
In the 1950’s, a service station and package store building was added and shortly after, the dancehall was constructed. The venue became a one stop shop for all that Hill Country cowboys needed including a cold-beer, a tire change and a dance.
I knew there must be an opportunity here for a photograph that could pay homage to the working cowboy and the Backbone’s long history of serving a cold beer. The decor behind the bar and on the ceiling are classic honky-tonk and they demanded some involvement in a vignette.
The cowboy – the most enduring symbol of America, not just Texas – is identifiable by his hat and individual faces in a collective group matter less. Nothing is lost from anonymity if the narrative is true.
That understanding gave me the idea of building a story around the bartender and we had just the right girl with us – Roxanna Redfoot from Dallas, Texas. She is our go to bar girl whether we film with cowboys in Montana or Texas.
The image works; it is Texas through and through and I know the owners and staff of Devil’s Backbone are delighted to be a part it. That makes me happy as they were as good to work with as anyone we have met on our travels.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 92” in (142.24 cm x 233.68 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 107” (180.34 cm x 271.78 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 61” in (93.98 cm x 154.94 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 76” in (132.08 cm x 193.04 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.
8 Ball
West Texas, USA – 2022
I choose to be long of parody, as to exaggerate helps to communicate. My default position is to be bold in any narrative. In this photograph I wanted to fully em- brace the vibe of a honky-tonk bar in Texas, peopled by hard working, hard living cowboys whom David Allen Coe made pivotal to his song writing. These men love a beer, a smoke and a honky-tonk girl, who brings out the masculinity that defines them.
John Steinbeck – the American literary giant – wrote “I have said that Texas is a state of mind, but I think it is more than that. It is a mystique closely approximating a religion.”
I get it, and cowboy culture is core to that religion. To try to immerse oneself in Texan culture and not spend time with true cowboys is akin to holidaying in Italy and eating at Burger King rather than the local trattoria. The cowboys in this image all play pool, all drink beer, all smoke, all love girls and all have manners. What you see, is what you get.
But I needed a strong lead and Roxanna Redfoot does this so well. She is comfortable with playing bad ass, and she can do it with no real effort, which is why we so often cast her. She is not in character – she is just herself.
Sometimes one person can kill an image, but that evening in Bandera, in the Hill Country of Texas, everyone nailed it. The saloon is the Arkey Blue’s Silver Dollar, where so many legendary country music singers have passed by and sang. By the bar downstairs, there is an open door and that gave me the chance to play with a little ambient light.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 81” in (142.24 cm x 205.74 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 96” in (180.34 cm x 243.84 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 53” in (93.98 cm x 134.62 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 68” in (132.08 cm x 132.08 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 Goes on Forever
Monument Valley, Utah – 2022
Monument Valley is the very essence of the South West of America; a colossal theatre of dreams and a canvas for movies without equal. It is the beating heart of the Wild West, a landscape of such timeless grandeur that we are forced to recognize that our time on this extraordinary planet is short and our footprint minimal. Its scale provokes a sensory overload never diluted by familiarity.
John Ford and John Wayne went back time and time again because the landscape does much of the storytelling work for a director. It serves to elevate those who perform on the stage as the context is almost always one of heroic isolation.
We got lucky with the light at the famous Forrest Gump Point last Monday morning. There was a window of about five minutes and the girls were so professional despite the chilling wind. Pictures like this make the job so rewarding and always remind me what a team effort it is. In particular, a big shout out to Nicole Allowitz; her styling is always so on point and was critical for the intended vibe on one of the most famous stretches of road in the world.
The title of the image is a borrow from Robert Earl Keen – the genius singer songwriter from Texas whom we sing along to whilst on the road in America.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 20 + 3 AP
- Image size: 56” x 67" in (142.24 cm x 170.18 cm)
- Framed Image Size: 71” x 82” in (180.34 cm x 208.28 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 20 + 3 AP
- Image size: 37” x 44" in (93.98 cm x 111.76 cm)
- Framed Image Size: 52” x 59" in (132.08 cm x 149.86 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 Power of the Dog
The Rocky Mountains, 2022
This winter photograph is all the better for the cinematic crop. It gives context and allows me to capture as much falling snow as possible. A long and heavy snowfall was just coming to its end and I was knee deep at the time. A bit like the image Bearish from last summer of the mother bear in the rain, it is the snowfall that really lifts this portrait.
These are not easy images to get, and when the opportunity comes, the key part of the craft is to be acutely sensitive to the need for the eyes to be razor sharp. The most telling part of the photograph is the eyes and what they convey; as with humans, they are the window to the soul.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 47” x 103” in (119.38 cm x 261.62 cm)
- Framed Image: 62” x 118” in (157.48 cm x 299.72 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 31” x 68” in (78.74 cm x 172.72 cm)
- Framed Image: 46” x 83” in (116.84 cm x 210.82 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.
Dead Man’s Chest
Anguilla, Caribbean – 2022
Archival Pigment Print on 315gsm Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta Paper
I hope this image is identified as having some of my trademarks. Every inch of the frame sweats and every person within the frame firmly stakes claim to his or her presence. I was greedy in the amount of information I wanted in the picture and for it to come off, I needed luck as well as strong communication with everyone on set. It has the cinematic feel that I often strive for and I think in time I will look back very fondly on that evening. At the moment it is all a little fresh and the subject matter is sufficiently adrift from my normal work that it is difficult to find context. But my sense is that it is a special photograph.
The goal was to attain compositional harmony amidst the chaos of the beach landing, which was not that easy an objective as this landing was for real. This raw and rocky coastline in Anguilla is no studio. In retrospect it is remarkable that not only are the faces of the six male pirates in the landing party all in view but they also show collective endeavour. They had enough to think about dealing with the boat in the tide and maybe the truth is that they weren’t in role at all.
Whilst getting soaked, out of my right eye I was checking the barrel in the sea, as I didn’t want to lose it behind the boat. There was quite a bit of multi- tasking going on in that one minute. Keeping a watch on two Rastafarian friends on the rocks was a further dimension. It was quite late in the day and by that time, I couldn’t be too sure of their footing given their industrial consumption of weed during the day.
Josie Canseco is made for shots like this. The more attitude she has, the more striking her appearance, and that’s why I cast her more in bad ass roles than necessarily beauty roles. In this series I wanted women to play more of a lead than is traditional in most pirate narratives. Most pirate productions are too male led.
I think most of us have a secret love for the pirate; there is something visceral about a life lived out-with the law. The subject certainly makes for good stories and this photograph could jump out of the pages of the storybook.
Available sizes
Standard - Edition of 12
- 48" x 67" inches framed (3” Mat)
- 52” x 71” inches framed (5” Mat)
Large - Edition of 12
- 67" x 96" inches framed (3” Mat)
- 71” x 100" inches framed (5” Mat)
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.
Paris
PARIS
Montana, USA – 2021
I had a few ideas as to how we would photograph Paris. The camera likes her, but therein lay the problem, she is one of the world’s most photographed people. The bedrock of creative art is authenticity and I was slightly running on empty as to how to raise the bar and be different. I was understandably conscious of the fact that Paris has been photographed by many of my peers, most famously perhaps by David LaChapelle in Paris for the front cover of Vanity Fair, when she was proclaimed New York’s leading “It Girl”.
The juxtaposition created by photographing her next to tough outlaws from the Wild West made conceptual sense, but I needed a narrative strong enough to make the portrait work. I felt there had to be a reason why this immaculately turned out and glossy celebrity would be hanging with a bunch of trouble makers in a dodgy saloon. It was important not just to play with contrasts, but to offer a reason as to why? If Reese Witherspoon’s character from Legally Blond had entered a dive bar in Boston’s South End to be confronted by some wise guys, the script would have legitimised why this union of contrasting stereotypes had occurred. I needed a “why”, not a “what” and that can be challenging to convey in a single still image.
I met with Paris and Carter a couple of days before the shoot and we talked around concepts. As we pondered over a few narratives, Carter, who has a private equity fund and is blessed with a razor smart mind, threw in the suggestion of Paris playing to a DJ role; after all it’s her comfort zone. The 100-year-old saloon I had chosen for the shoot offered a rather different vibe to a club in Ibiza, but that was the whole point. I immediately loved the idea – as did Paris – and we went to work.
Our Wild West anthology is now well developed and to incorporate her into this tapestry of composed close ups playing to the lore of the American West seemed to offer opportunity. It is our own comfort zone and we would simply give this story a contemporary twist by throwing in a DJ deck and one of the highest paid and well-known DJs in the world.
We decided to make Paris bling and her famous diamond headphones were a vital accessory. There was also just enough space to incorporate her pet chihuahua who arrived in his own little Louis Vuitton jumpsuit. My simple instructive to her was to play her music, enjoy herself and the rest would hopefully look after itself.
I think Paris did enjoy herself and the extras most certainly did. The end result works because she looks like she is in total control and embracing the venue. It was all very natural.
I don’t think the locals are going to forget that day in a hurry. As for us, well I guess we got our authenticity.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition of 12:
- Image: 56” x 75" (143 cm x 191 cm)
- Framed: 67” x 86" (171 cm x 219 cm)
STANDARD - Edition of 12:
- Image: 37” x 50” (94 cm x 127 cm)
- Framed: 48” x 61” (122 cm x 155 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.
Get The Fxxx Off My Boat (Colour)
Marina del Rey, LA, California – 2021
My first collaboration with the real Wolf of Wall Street – Jordan Belfort – in the autumn of 2019, resulted in the coveted image -The Wolves of Wall Street. That photograph has now sold out and I was honored that both Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese signed a copy which sold for $200,000 at Art Miami at the end of that year.
In May of this year we had an opportunity to shoot our sequel off the coast of Marina del Rey in Los Angeles. I had so much more light to play with than in the dealing room shot and my instinct was to be bold in the amount of content I could include in one frame. Indeed, I had to work on the basis that the one frame had to tell the full story, otherwise the job would not have been done properly. This is one of the challenges of still photography.
Once we sourced our necessarily large yacht, I pondered intensely over the make up of the content and the composition of that content. The wolf would always be the centre stage, but the layered nature of the front of the boat offered my best chance of an expansive narrative around and behind the wolf. My favored shooting time was an hour before sunset and from mid afternoon I had built up an intricate story board in my mind.
About 6.45pm out on the open sea, all the constituent parts came together and I think everyone involved should be proud of the role they played in creating the parody. I would contend that if any one of the constituents of the photograph was removed, the picture would be materially lessened. It needed the giant lobsters; the spray of the champagne; the FBI; the helicopter; both wolves and even the girl on the top deck. Luckily they were all on board – this was not a day to have after thoughts.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition of 12:
- Image: 56” x 79" (143 cm x 201 cm)
- Framed: 67” x 90" (171 cm x 229 cm)
STANDARD - Edition of 12:
- Image: 37” x 52" (94 cm x 133 cm)
- Framed: 48” x 63" (122 cm x 161 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 Rookie
Montana, USA – 2021
A treasure trove of characters in a dive bar saloon in Western Montana. The question is, who would you want as your partner? Do you go for perceived experience or looks?
The suave gentleman on the left looks the part, but he could be a little callow and raw. It may pay to go with the menace to his left. Looks can be deceiving. The wolf carries an assertive confidence and seems to be holding court, but he is, after all, a wolf. Singer and entertainer Ciara looks too good to be playing pool and surely she can’t have much experience hustling in pool bars? It’s beneath her. But how can you turn her down?
The answer is to go with the character on the left – he is one of the best performing rookies of all time.
Russell Wilson’s Rookie year at the Seattle Seahawks (the 2012 season) was the stuff of legends. He was named NFL Rookie of the Year and took the Seahawks to within one game of the Superbowl. (This despite being 75th in the 2012 NFL draft). He only had to wait 12 months to cement his status.
In early 2014, Wilson led the Seahawks to their first Superbowl victory in which they trounced the marginal favourites, the Denver Broncos, 43 – 8 in New Jersey. This is still the largest ever Superbowl victory for the underdog. The game attracted a viewing audience in America of 111 million which, at the time, was a historical record for a US television broadcast.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition of 20:
- Image: 56” x 83" (143 cm x 211 cm)
- Framed: 67” x 94" (171 cm x 239 cm)
STANDARD - Edition of 20:
- Image: 37” x 55" (94 cm x 140 cm)
- Framed: 48” x 66" (122 cm x 168 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.
Get The FXXX Off My Boat
Marina del Rey, LA, California – 2021
My first collaboration with the real Wolf of Wall Street – Jordan Belfort – in the autumn of 2019, resulted in the coveted image -The Wolves of Wall Street. That photograph has now sold out and I was honored that both Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese signed a copy which sold for $200,000 at Art Miami at the end of that year.
In May of this year we had an opportunity to shoot our sequel off the coast of Marina del Rey in Los Angeles. I had so much more light to play with than in the dealing room shot and my instinct was to be bold in the amount of content I could include in one frame. Indeed, I had to work on the basis that the one frame had to tell the full story, otherwise the job would not have been done properly. This is one of the challenges of still photography.
Once we sourced our necessarily large yacht, I pondered intensely over the make up of the content and the composition of that content. The wolf would always be the centre stage, but the layered nature of the front of the boat offered my best chance of an expansive narrative around and behind the wolf. My favored shooting time was an hour before sunset and from mid afternoon I had built up an intricate story board in my mind.
About 6.45pm out on the open sea, all the constituent parts came together and I think everyone involved should be proud of the role they played in creating the parody. I would contend that if any one of the constituents of the photograph was removed, the picture would be materially lessened. It needed the giant lobsters; the spray of the champagne; the FBI; the helicopter; both wolves and even the girl on the top deck. Luckily they were all on board – this was not a day to have after thoughts.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition of 12:
- Image: 56” x 79" (143 cm x 201 cm)
- Framed: 67” x 90" (171 cm x 229 cm)
STANDARD - Edition of 12:
- Image: 37” x 52" (94 cm x 133 cm)
- Framed: 48” x 63" (122 cm x 161 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 Bills
The Bills
Southwest Montana, USA – 2021
The concept of this photograph has been on my wish list for many years. A group of male bison charging through heavy snow, directly towards a camera is certainly a rare sight and it always seemed a bridge too far from almost every perspective. The question has always been Where and how could this epic scene unfold in front of a camera?
Yellowstone National Park was never going to be the answer. This sort of collective behavior does not tend to happen in the park and if it did, there would be zero chance of being in the right place at the right time to film it. It is difficult to break new ground in Yellowstone.
In 2020 an American artist, John Banovich, an exceptional talent and good friend, suggested that I approach Ted Turner to see if I could gain access to his stunning 180 square mile ranch – Flying D – saddling Yellowstone and neighbouring Big Sky.
This remarkable place is nine times the size of Manhattan and showcases Montana at its most stunning best.John’s wonderful painting of a group of running bison adorns the wall of the main reception of the exclusive Yellowstone Club and he took his inspiration from spending time at Ted Turner’s ranch. I recognised that this was a link worth pursuing. Flatteringly, a few months after my initial approach, the Turner team agreed to collaborate in the hope that we could raise money for Ted’s conservation initiatives. Ted Turner is one of America’s biggest landowners and also one of its most acclaimed conservationists and he reintroduced both bison and wolves into Flying D, one of his three Montana ranches.
In mid-winter, his team of ranchers will herd some of the 5,000-resident bison into areas where feeding is easier and this controlled activity creates an opportunity to work a situation. Just like cowboys herding their cattle in Texas, the skill sets of the Turner ranchers in deep snow are a privilege to watch.The difficulty is that bison in this vast ranch are more skittish of humans on foot than their Yellowstone cousins, who see thousands of tourists every day. I therefore needed either to be camouflaged or out of sight as they made haste in my direction. Luckily the Flying D team knew of a group of rocks behind which I would be obscured from the bison’s line of sight.After many a failure, and some adjustments to the approach, one gorgeous winter morning in February, we achieved what we set out to do. It was a real team effort and I want to thank John Banovich and the whole Turner Corporation team at the Flying D.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition of 12:
- Image: 37” x 100" (94 cm x 254 cm)
- Framed: 48” x 111" (122 cm x 282 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.