1992
For some time I had yearned to do my own interpretation of the advert with a still photograph and I secured Cindy’s involvement, who in turn secured Pepsi’s approval (given the implicit tribute, why would Pepsi say “no”?). The Halfway House has not changed at all from 1992 and neither really has Cindy. The rest of the props were easy to replicate.
The issue was the two boys who were never in the same frame as Cindy in the advert and would be even harder to acknowledge or incorporate into one photograph whilst maintaining the narrative. The idea I went along with was to use wolves instead – that way I could introduce a new angle without losing the integrity of the adaptation.
Why wolves? Well it is a metaphor for all the men who have wanted to be at that gas station the next time Cindy Crawford turned up to fill up with gas, or indeed buy a soft drink. I wanted them to be looking keenly towards Cindy and the only way that could work in my set was to have them approaching her from behind. Since the roof was down in the car, it made total sense for them to have stealthily sneaked into the back seats whilst she went about her business. There is the necessary hunger and yearning in their disposition.
Cindy looks fabulous and makes the image which we all agreed had to be in colour. I must make mention of Peter Savic – the legendary hair stylist who worked with Cindy on the original commercial. How lucky am I that 29 years later he came back to the Halfway House for the reunion and styled Cindy’s hair again?
DYP would like to make it clear that the “wolf ” in the image is actually a domesticated Tamaskan dog – which have similar facial characteristics to Wolves.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition of 20:
- Image: 56” x 84" (143 cm x 214 cm)
- Framed: 67” x 95" (171 cm x 242 cm)
STANDARD - Edition of 20:
-
Image size: 37” x 56" (94 cm x 143 cm)
-
Framed size: 48” x 67" (122 cm x 171 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.
American Beauty
On this 1950s set – built in Santa Clarita near Los Angeles – my excellent production team gave me the chance to create something very special. American icon Cindy Crawford would be my lead, so there was a little bit of pressure to be on my game, especially as Cindy had made the location famous from the iconic 1992 Pepsi commercial. The gas station and cafe haven’t changed much and neither, in fact, has Cindy.
My preconception was to use the panel lighting to showcase Cindy in an intense rain storm. The rain would pop much more than it would do in daylight. I could see the potential of the concept; the set, complete with 1950s LA cop cars, was authentic and all the angles worked. There was an intended nod to the wonderful movie – LA Confidential – but the problem was that her period evening glam look would be immediately vulnerable to the rain.
In my creative processing beforehand I had established in my mind that there could not be many retakes of this shoot. Her hair, so intelligently styled by the legendary Peter Savic, would be in trouble after just a few seconds; quickly followed by her evening dress. We had at best 10 seconds to get the shot.
What I knew was that Cindy is a trooper and indeed she smashes this picture. There are few people that would perform so professionally under such circumstances. She is as good as it gets and this picture is made by her, not me.
I would like to thank Cindy’s excellent A team of Peter Savic, Nicole Allowitz, Jennifer Jacobs and Sam Visser. As for Cindy, it is always a treat to work with the very best. A true American Beauty inside and out.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition of 20:
- Image: 61” x 56" (155 cm x 143 cm)
- Framed: 72” x 67" (183 cm x 171 cm)
STANDARD - Edition of 20:
- Image size: 40” x 37" (102 cm x 94 cm)
- Framed size: 51” x 48" (130 cm x 122 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.
Americana
The roll out of the road system in America accelerated geographical mobility and the pursuit of the American dream. The country is, and always will be, the home of the road trip. Motorbikes and roadside diners and gas stations became enduring cultural symbols of America.
Meanwhile, the Harley Davidson evolved into an iconic American brand and bikers themselves carved their own archetype and story in a rapidly developing society. There was a spirit of freedom captured so well in the 1969 movie Easy Rider and by bands such as the Eagles, who encouraged us to “take it easy”.
Whilst I did not take this photograph standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona and whilst none of the bikers look remotely like Peter Fonda, there is a deliberate nostalgic nod to a freewheeling era in American history. My goal was to make a photograph to elicit memories of the America we once knew.
But this vignette is, of course, completed by perhaps America’s most loved supermodel – Cindy Crawford. We could not possibly use any other person in this shoot, as the set we had chosen was the very diner she made famous in the iconic Pepsi advert of 1992.
There may be no cowboys in this photograph or baseball bats or country music references, but there is enough to make it quintessential Americana.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition of 12:
- Image: 56” x 56" (143 cm x 143 cm)
- Framed: 67” x 67" (171 cm x 171 cm)
STANDARD - Edition of 20:
- Image size: 37” x 37" (94 cm x 94 cm)
- Framed size: 48” x 48" (122 cm x 122 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.
Brutus
Brutus
Alaska, USA – 2021
This is a huge coastal bear; a living version of the stuffed ones that adorn the airports of lodges and airports in Alaska. They are bigger on the coast than in the inland tundra and that draws me to areas such as Kamishak Bay and the river that runs into it.
Adult bears draw our breath the most when they are standing as that is when their shoulders, their bulk and their menace are amplified. The average adult male coastal bear weighs five times as much as an average adult man and in many bear pictures – including the majority of mine – this is not adequately conveyed. Sometimes a wet bear can look a bit like an oversized dog and leave the cameraman frustrated that the encounter has been disserved.
But not here. A true first for me and an encounter I will long remember. There was a huge amount of luck involved and then at the key moment, just a little steel. I am low in the water and the bear is towering above me – there is no room for camera shake.
It was a fairly miserable day weather wise, but actually I think that the rainfall helps the image. Sometimes I work in a studio, but this was about as far from a studio as it is possible to be.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition of 12 + 3 AP:
- Image Size: 64” x 56" in (162.56 cm x 142.24 cm)
- Framed Image: 79” x 71” in (200.66 cm x 180.34 cm)
STANDARD - Edition of 12 + 3 AP:
- Image Size: 43” x 37" in (109.22 cm x 93.98 cm)
- Framed Image: 58" x 52" (147.32 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.
Django
Django
Montana, USA – 2021
My fear of the mundane has no immediate cure and my commitment to western revisionism probably aggravates the condition as this is a well-trodden genre with no room for being dull.
As soon as I had convinced the Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback Russell Wilson and Wilson and GRAMMY-Award winning singer / songwriter – Ciara – to come to Montana to participate in my unhinged madness, we got to work on narratives and storyboards. I liked the idea of building some final frontier sets but that in itself is hardly groundbreaking. Sure, we gave the saloon a name that referred to Montana’s celebrity guests, but that did not quench my thirst. This was an opportunity to push a few boundaries.
Ultimately three decisions coalesced to make the difference and turn an idea into something of which we are all proud. The first was the styling: we hired for Ciara the best we know – Mariel Haenn and her partner Rob Zangardi, in LA. Mariel styles Cara Delevingne and so works with us regularly. I gave her team a simple directive – “post-Civil War badass”. Mariel and Rob don’t need much more than that and Ciara looks ridiculously good and on point. Meanwhile, for Russell’s stylist Alicia Sereno, she did a first class job of making Russell look every bit as badass as Ciara. They both owned their looks.
The second call was to shoot in a rainstorm – an unrelenting one. As a storyteller, I have always enjoyed inclement weather, but I knew we would have to make the rain, not ask Russell and Ciara to wait for a storm mid-summer. I studied the rain scenes from Paul Greengrass’s recent western – News of the World – with Tom Hanks and the effect added such mood and textural detail to Hanks’ face and clothes that I could not remove the prompt from my head. To use rain in this shot was a good decision.
The third decision was, of course, to set the building on fire. This is not an easy thing to do from a practical perspective and it meant shooting at night to make the most of the effect. But again, the decision paid off – perhaps a little better than we could have imagined.
Russell and Ciara make for strong doubles for Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington in Tarantino’s bad ass western “Django Unchained”. On this one occasion, I believe that I can get away with the reference, albeit Django burnt down a plantation mansion in Mississippi, not a saloon on the banks of the Madison River in Montana. It was a powerful and authentic film, but I think this is a powerful and authentic photograph.
A great team effort and a hell of a result.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition of 20:
- Image: 56” x 85" (142 cm x 216 cm)
- Framed: 67” x 96" (171 cm x 244 cm)
STANDARD - Edition of 20:
- Image size: 37” x 56" (94 cm x 143 cm)
- Framed size: 48” x 67" (122 cm x 171 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.
Pebble Beach
Pebble Beach
Alaska, USA – 2021
I think two elements often need to coalesce to create a memorable bear image in Alaska; proximity to a big brute of a bear in the first place and then a transcending level of context. I have come close before, but never emphatically nailed it. We have had far more failure than success.
Then in mid-August 2021 I had my moment. These types of portraits demand a wider narrative and the snow and the mountains give a very clear nod to life in the final frontier. I still can’t quite believe our luck, but then again, we have put in the hours up here over the years.
I am crystal clear in my mind who I have to thank for this capture; our mountain guide Connor Ketchum. We had worked with him before and knew that his instinctive reaction and control of the river boat were of Olympic standard. He knows the fast-flowing river and its varying depth well and can manœuvre his boat with speed and sensitivity to a bear’s behaviour. Without his skill we would never have had the bear in this position with the mountain range behind.
The pebble beach above the river bank offered a wonderful stage for the bear to visually “pop” against a stunning backdrop, but we had to get there in seconds and Connor achieved this with grace and precision. Most importantly of all, by turning the engine off and drifting into position, the bear’s behaviour was unaffected. He just walked regally towards us in his role of “Boss of the river”. Had his path altered as a result of our presence, there would have been no picture. The game was won by speed and stealth.
In the summer of 2021, we used bush pilots over a dozen times in Alaska and had some disheartening days. That is the nature of the game, but on our final day we had this two-minute encounter at the edge of the world. It made everything worthwhile and we thank our friend from Arkansas – the legend that is Connor Ketchum. Without him there was no photograph and we are again reminded of the people that help us on a daily basis.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition of 12:
- Image: 40” x 98" (102 cm x 249 cm)
- Framed: 51” x 109" (127 cm x 277 cm)
STANDARD - Edition of 12:
- Image: 27” x 66" (69 cm x 168 cm)
- Framed: 38” x 77" (97 cm x 381 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.
Persons of Interest
For this shoot, I took the Seattle Seahawks quarterback and his wife to my favourite shooting location in the world – the Pioneer Bar – high up in the mountains of West Montana. I wanted to be in command of as much as possible and with my intimate knowledge of the location, I knew I could muster together a smorgasbord of western archetypes to complement the rock star American couple. I also know the lighting and the angles inside out. It was a home fixture for me.
My preconception was to build a vignette that lived and breathed cinema whilst playing on the importance of cultural refinement in the Wild West. To that end, I thought it would be playful to dress Russell and Ciara in black tie so as to accentuate the narrative. Finding the extras was easy – they are mostly drinking buddies.
There are no weak characters in this shot; there is simply no room for them. In fashioning together so many ethnicities, I hope his photograph celebrates the diversity of America and reminds us that the pursuit of the American Dream was, and is, inclusive.
Revlon Ambassadors have been filmed in many locations, but perhaps none offer the storied past of the Pioneer Bar. Ciara smashed this look, but I soon discovered, she kind of smashes every look.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition of 20:
- Image: 56” x 100" (142 cm x 254 cm)
- Framed: 67” x 111" (170 cm x 214 cm)
STANDARD - Edition of 20:
- Image: 37" x 48" (94 cm x 122 cm)
- Framed: 48" x 59" (122 cm x 150 cm)
MEDIUM - Edition of 20:
- Image: 45" x 80" (114 cm x 203 cm)
- Framed: 56" x 91" (142 cm x 231 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 Daily News
Proof again that Cindy Crawford is gold dust for a photographer. She looks quite sensational in this “film noir” piece taken at the very location made famous by her Pepsi commercial in 1992.
My idea was to build a 1950s set and shoot at night; not just to add drama and contrast, but also to legitimize the period evening glam look. One I knew Cindy would excel in.
In the weeks running up to the shoot, I played around with a few possible narratives and I was drawn to the concept of a film set within a film set. I had long admired Peter Lindberg’s work for the Breitling Squad campaign which also played on this theme and I also knew how Hollywood always enjoys work showcasing itself. The nod to Peter Lindberg was apposite as he and Cindy often collaborated together to great effect.
It dawned on me that those with cameras could be press men as opposed to film makers and the narrative could lean on the intense media interest Hollywood stars have long received. Since the Press tend to hang as a pack, I could play on that and throw in a wolf. The premise was that the vignette should live and breathe cinema.
My instincts were that Cindy should be enjoying the attention and her face should glow, not scowl. Over the years I have learnt that she is very comfortable playing a role and the look certainly works here.
The still cameraman in the photograph is Dimitri Dimitrov – Sunset Tower’s much loved and celebrated Maître D. He has had so many cameo roles in Hollywood over the years and I did not want to miss out. Cindy and I were delighted to have him on set – as were my family who adore him.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition of 20
-
Image: 56” x 84"
-
Framed: 67” x 95"
STANDARD - Edition of 20
- Image: 37” x 55"
- Framed: 48” x 66"
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.
Mars Attacks!
Sea of Cortez, Mexico – 2021
Every year in the early summer, thousands of mobula rays congregate in the Sea of Cortez off the coast of La Paz in Mexico. On calm days at sea, a spectacular courting ritual unfolds during which the rays show off by jumping several metres out of the sea. It is one of the most surreal sights to witness anywhere in the world. In the ocean, mobula rays look as one would expect, but when flying through the air, they look like aliens or spaceships. They are quite literally a fish out of water. I have no preconception as to what a “Mars Attack” might look like, but this is hopefully the closest I will get to it.
There are a few dilemmas on this location for the filmmaker. Firstly, the action often takes place 90 minutes from port and the light and the activity are at their best in the hour before sunset. We also discovered that the wind picks up after the sun sets. Secondly, I wanted to be as low as possible and this ruled out hiring larger more comfortable boats.
There was no way we would sacrifice content, so we had no choice but to spend a few dark evenings returning home in quite rough seas in a small fishing boat. But that was still the right trade. There are no shortcuts in this gig.
I took a great deal of frames over the week, but it is such a low percentage assignment that just three or four did justice to the spectacle. It requires quick reactions and – as always – good fortune. Much depends on the alertness and manoeuvering skills of the captain of the boat. I was fortunate to work in La Paz with my fellow Londoner – Luke Inman – who now lives in the city and knows the sea and sealife there as well as anyone. He hired the boat captain – Tony Ruelas – and this picture is as much his as it is mine.
What a planet we live on.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
Standard
- Image Size: 37” x 54"
- Framed with a 3” Mat: 48” x 65"
- Framed with a 5” Mat: 52” x 69"
Large
- Image Size: 56” x 82"
- Framed with a 3” Mat: 67” x 93"
- Framed with a 5” Mat: 71” x 97"
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 Snow Patrol 2021
2021
During our travels in America, we have learnt a great deal about cowboys. The difference between someone who can ride competently and a true working cowboy may ostensibly appear marginal, but in extreme conditions a chasm appears.
To work a horse in -20 degrees, in two feet of fresh snow, whilst holding a weapon in one hand, appearing totally at ease, is a bridge too far for 99% of riders. So, on this set in Norwood, Colorado we knew we had to work with the best of the best.
Ty Mitchell on the left is as authentic a Texan cowboy as they come and it is no surprise to us that he will soon be on set for three months with Martin Scorsese. I don’t think Scorsese will be disappointed with any aspect of Ty’s character. It will not be Ty’s first rodeo, Anthony Bourdain featured him when Parts Unknown visited West Texas and Marfa.
To his right, Michael Malone is a local rancher from Colorado and he immediately impressed us with his understated confidence and ability to play to a role. I fancy he could ride a horse sidesaddle whilst totally stoned and I sense such a challenge may have been put to the test once or twice. We welcomed him to the team with open arms.
In my mind, the key variable in this photograph is the light. On a sunny winter’s day, with snow on the ground, I believe the best light is actually in the first three or four minutes when the sun raises its head and touches the subject. 10 minutes after sunrise is too late as the sun is
too harsh on the subject.
In those initial minutes, the sun can be behind the camera and give the cameraman huge flexibility. In this case, the flexibility I needed was a very fast shutter speed.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
Large: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 90” in (142.24 cm x 228.6 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 105” in (180.34 cm x 266.7 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 59” in (93.98 cm x 149.86 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 74” in (132.08 cm x 187.96 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.