Road Trip II
Utah, USA 2018
I have always been drawn to the John Ford scenery of Northern Arizona and Utah, the highlight of which has to be Monument Valley. I am clearly not alone in considering the view south from turnoff 13 on the way to Mexican Hat to be one of the most visually intoxicating sights in the US. It was, of course, used in Forrest Gump and then provided the front cover to Ridley Scott’s Thelma and Louise. The US have taken ownership of the term “road trip” as explained succinctly by this stretch of tarmac. It’s truly an iconic and timeless vista that shouts “The Wild West”.
Gladiator is probably Ridley Scott finest movie and I have watched it over and over again. Meanwhile, Thelma and Louise is rightly one of the most lauded road trip movies of all time. About a month ago, I picked up the DVD box and had a moment of inspiration. Their use of the convertible car and the head on angle offered a totally different perspective on Monument Valley.
Taking my pre-conception through to reality last Wednesday morning was no small task. I want to thank Brawler Productions in LA for collaborating with me and helping secure exclusive use of the road at the key time, around 7.40 am. It’s a busy road and the Utah State Police were fantastic. @JosieCanseco played her role brilliantly – it was not easy to look that glamorous and in charge with a wolf sitting In Thelma’s seat. It is no surprise that Victoria’s Secret has booked her for its latest show in NYC.
We arrived on site two days before the shoot as we wanted to be in control of everything within our control. I can’t remember ever pondering more over camera settings and lenses. I knew I would have a generous amount of light to play with at 7.40 and we had to use it well. The big variable was the wolf’s behaviour – the light gets too harsh from about 8am and therefore there was only a small window to get the job wrapped. It was tight, but we did it. All in all, it was a great team effort in a fairly remote part of the American West.
We showed this picture for the first time in Dallas last night and the reaction was huge. It is a very special image and I think we nailed it. Thank you, Josie, you were fabulous.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 56" x 79" (143 x 201 cm)
- Framed: 67" x 90" (171 cm x 229 cm)
STANDARD - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 37" x 52" (94 x 133)
- Framed: 48" x 63" (122 x 160 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.
Once Upon A Time...
Los Angeles, California 2019
My plan was to find a section of Sunset Boulevard emblematic of Hollywood – it needed to be familiar to all and have some depth. After a great deal of walking up and down, we chose a spot 200 yards east of the entrance to Chateau Marmont, because the billboards looking west were large and well positioned and the hotel and the hotel sign are so iconic. The bend in the road also helped give the frame a compositional balance that I could not find on other sections – such as Sunset Plaza. In my head it was always going to be a wide angle shot.
To shut the road down meant shooting first thing on a Sunday morning – which worked as we knew the best light would be sunrise if we were shooting towards the Pacific. Equally, I did not want the sun to rise too much as it would be tough on both the wolf and the model’s eyes. Of course, the model was not your run of the mill model – it was Alessandra Ambrosio – one of the world’s most photographed women. She has a very special look and is so easy to work with.
This photograph is as I wanted – very LA, very West Hollywood and jammed with reference points. It’s a little crazy, a little La La Land, but that was the goal. Most of all, to the best of my knowledge, it’s authentic. No one can try and copy it now.
“Once Upon a Time …”
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 56" x 76" (143 x 193 cm)
- Framed: 67" x 87" (171 cm x 221 cm)
STANDARD - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 37" x 50" (94 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 artwork. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
The Leader Of The Pack
Nevada, 2019
The Harley-Davidson is a heavy- weight brand – like Coke and McDonalds, it was integral to the flourishing of the American Dream. The brand is emblematic of the post 1945 roll out of the US highway network that offered the American population the freedom to travel for travel’s sake. As Robert Louis Stevenson said: “I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.”
My preconception was that if we were to use Harley-Davidsons for our “Road Trip” series in America, we needed a visual template that was “bad ass” from every perspective. We could not do this is in a half-hearted way – there was a responsibility to kill it.
All the bikers clearly had to be dudes and my preference was for the bikes themselves to be from the late 1930s through to the 1970s. I wanted choppers that aficionados would recognise and celebrate as I was determined that seasoned bikers could love the image as much as my followers. My hunch was that this might be the first and only time that these two demographics would meet. There was a required level of authenticity and attention to detail, but nothing insurmountable. My production team – Brawler – is first class at looking after that and indeed sourced the famous 1936 Knucklehead Chopper and a 1946 Harley Davidson sidecar.
The location was key. We had to find somewhere that complemented the bikes and romanticised the freedom of travel that the Harley-Davidson brand evokes. This instructed to- wards depth in the image, as the longer the road, the more emphatically it conveyed the sense of a journey. My intuition was also that this was a shot that needed to be in California, or at least in John Ford’s American West, as the topography and sense of place reinforces the brand.
The creative prompts were movies like Easy Rider – the classic 1969 Dennis Hopper lm starring Peter Fonda. America is the home of big scenery and we needed big scenery. Our internet trawling finally led us towards the Valley of Fire in Nevada – a remote park one hour’s drive north east of Las Vegas. It had depth and the moon like rock structures either side of the road continually drag the eye back to that road. If any vista could be described as “bad ass”, this was it.
And so it was that the crew assembled in the modest “Breaking Bad” village of Overton, Nevada last Tuesday night – the bikers from California, my usual five wolves from Montana and of course the delightful Bryana Holly – who agreed to come and work with us on this assignment. I think she might have been used to slightly nicer accommodation, but it was a joy to work with her.
Photography can o en be about maths as much as it is about inspiration and my deliberations on site the previous day were all about the need to compress distance, but also offer decent depth of field. The lens choice – my old reliable 85mm was key – nothing else in the camera boxes worked.
The result is a blowout image and I think everyone involved should give themselves a pat on the back (and that is a big number of people). I look forward to Harley-Davidson’s reaction. It really is a monster of a photograph – far better than I had hoped for. I looked at it in LA for at least an hour on Friday.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 56" x 76" (143 cm x 193 cm)
- Framed: 67" x 105" (171 cm x 267 cm)
STANDARD - Edition Size: 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 artwork. Domestic delivery and installation may also be available via Hilton Contemporary’s private art shuttle. Please inquire.
It's Only A Matter Of Time
Chicago, IL 2017
I have a paranoia of the mundane and maybe this picture exposes that trait.
The idea came to me as I walked back to my hotel from a charity dinner in Chicago in the autumn. I was a few glasses of red the wrong side of sober.
The city has the most visually intoxicating architecture in America and at the cross point of the river and Michigan Avenue, there is space to breathe and find a full frame, as opposed to a brutally vertical perspective. This distinguishes central Chicago from Manhattan. It is truly a stunning location, particularly at night. The incumbent US President chose his asset location well.
Taking my audacious and challenging preconception linearly through to its conception in the middle of a cold Chicago night involved a huge amount of team work and resolve and I thank everyone for their roles – especially the wolf and Chicago PD. (whose charitable foundation will rightly benefit from the proceeds of print sales)
I have closed down bars in my time, but never whole streets in a city centre . We started at 11pm and finished at 3 am.
I know there is a thin line between creative courage and insanity, but I like to push boundaries.
It is up to the viewer to determine my reason for the title. I could be referring to the clock in the famous neo gothic tower behind the Chicago Tribune building or indeed the onset of winter. But there is a less subliminal and rather topical message that is stamped emphatically all over the image. It is surely now “just a matter of time”.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 56" x 74" (143 cm x 188 cm)
- Framed: 67" x 85" (171 cm x 216 cm)
STANDARD - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 37" x 49" (94 cm x 125 cm)
- Framed: 48" x 60" (122 cm x 153 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.
Goodfellas
Chicago, Illinois 2019
Like so many, I have long been drawn to gangster films – and the director Martin Scorsese is one of my great inspirations. Chicago is the home of the mobster and I was determined to capture the mood of the Al Capone and Prohibition era in a single frame. To my mind this demanded a location canvas that could substantiate the narrative. I homed in on the old Italian Neighbourhood in Chicago – where thousands of Italians used to live in the 1920s and 1930s. Around 24th street and Oakley, it was a tight knit community with roots in Tuscan towns such as Lucca.
On an intersection on 24th Street there is a well known Italian restaurant – Bruna’s, that was around at the time of Al Capone. Bruna – an Italian lady – owned the joint for many years and allegedly had fatally knifed a couple of customers during her tenure. Her portrait still holds court in the dining area.
I visited on the premise of being hungry and I knew immediately there was potential. The current owner – Luciano from Siena – was willing to cooperate so long as some cash changed hands and he could be an extra in the image. Both requests seemed reasonable, besides historical precedent suggests that this was no place to argue with the patrons.
The casting couch was entertaining as it was difficult to distinguish between those who were acting and those who were the real deal. I could only vouch for two of them – Luciano, on the far left of the photograph and Josie Canseco, who played her role brilliantly as she always does. The formation worked to the side of the bar – what a bunch.
After the shoot was wrapped, one of the mobsters – going by the name of Donny Greco – brought out his music box and we all sang Frank Sinatra and drank Italian white for an hour. My kinda town, Chicago is.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 56" x 94" (143 cm x 239 cm)
- Framed: 67" x 105" (170 cm x 267 cm)
STANDARD - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 37" x 62" (94 cm x 158 cm)
- Framed: 48" x 73" (122 cm x 186 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.
Crazy Horse
Montana, USA 2018
In June 1876, the Battle of Little Bighorn – commonly known as Custer’s Last Stand – was played out not far from the location of this remote saloon in Montana. For Americans of all ethnicities with a thirst for history, Big Horn has become something of a pilgrimage and for those with a thirst for alcohol, the saloon is the only place to get a beer within a 70 mile radius.
The US 7th Cavalry suffered big losses in the two-day battle – over 300 men – and the bravery of General Custer has become the stuff of legends. But so too the Crow Indians – who celebrate the occasion every year on its 25th June anniversary. The names of the Lakota Sioux Chiefs are now so familiar – Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Lame White Man and Two Moon. Arguably no battle in the history of the world has been of greater inspiration for naming pubs and nightclubs than The Battle of Little Big Horn.
The Crow Indians remain revered and as a result of some networking, I had the opportunity to meet with the current Crow Chief – a direct descendent of those that fought alongside Custer 140 years ago. Bulltail was an older man of great dignity and whilst he spoke some English, it was clear that Crow was his language of choice – as well it should be.
He agreed to be photographed by me and I had a preconception of what we could do. My idea was simply to cram the view finder with as many characters as possible and use the limited depth of field to prioritise the pivotal players in the scene. Preferably there would be some sense of movement – and the responsibility for that would lie with the wolf. Everything else was secondary to the wolf being sharp and I knew I could rely on the model – she always nails it.
This photograph is very much made in Montana and has been received well by many of my friends in the state. Equally, however, I think it should appeal to all those that find a visceral pull towards The Wild West.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 56" x 99" (143 cm x 252 cm)
- Framed: 67" x 110" (171 cm x 280 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.
Coyote Ugly
Big Timber, Montana 2019
Any town with a name like Big Timber immediately grabs my attention. It just sounds like a place with an interesting past. As it is, this modest community of 1500 to the west of Livingston in Montana, is a little run down and sleepy. It is nestled between the Crazies mountain range to the north and Yellowstone to the south and most people simply pass it by.
However, in trawling the internet, we discovered a saloon bar in the high street with neon signage on the facade that caught my interest. We visited the location and there was certainly potential, but clearly the shot would have to take place at night.
There was then an immediate problem, as we discovered that the bar was the central congregation point for all the mountain men – not just from Big Timber, but from far and wide. To bring a wolf and a Victoria’s Secret model to the entrance and shoot when the bar was open, was simple asking for trouble.
The only viable option was immediately obvious – to shoot at 5 am, when hopefully most of the clientele had had enough, though in Montana, one can never be sure. Normal drinking hours don’t apply in this state.
As it was, we were okay and the bar owner agreed to keep the neon lights on for us. e next issue was simply that when we were in position, it was around -20 degrees – fine for the wolf, but a little chilly for California’s Josie Canseco.
She is, however, a trooper and we got the job done. My narrative was simply that the couple had hooked up inside the bar and were rushing home. e wolf certainly looks like he has a smile on his face – who can blame him.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 56" x 61" (143 cm x 155 cm)
- Framed: 67" x 72" (171 cm x 183 cm)
STANDARD - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 37" x 41" (94 cm x 105 cm)
- Framed: 48" x 52" (122 cm 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.
Cindy's Shotgun Wedding
Nevada City, Montana, 2019
You don’t get a second chance to work with Cindy Crawford, so there was obviously a little pressure. I took her to a place I know well – the ghost town of Nevada City, Montana as I hoped familiarity with the light and the angles would help me. I needed as many variables under my control as possible on an ambitious story line. The one thing we could not manage or predict was the weather and last week it was cold.
If Cindy was outside her comfort zone with the temperatures so low and a big wolf as a companion, she did not flinch. She is professional, stoic and game and it was an honour to work with a true American idol. She sets a high bar on so many levels.
It was a big effort for her to fly from LA to hang out with me and my team whom she had never met before and then work in freezing temperatures with some big wolves. She never complained and took no fee at all. Quite amazing.
Proceeds from the sales of this image – Cindy’s Shotgun Wedding – will go towards her notable charity work – focused on raising money for children with cancer. She nailed the image and I think everyone will agree she looks fantastic.
I am very fortunate that she trusted me to do this and I am humbled by her professionalism and grace.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition Size: 20
- Image: 56" x 88" (143 cm x 224 cm)
- Framed: 67" x 99" (171 cm x 252 cm)
STANDARD - Edition Size: 20
- Image: 37" x 58" (94 cm x 148 cm)
- Framed: 48" x 69" (122 cm x 176 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.
Chicago
Chicago, Illinois 2019
This is is a big photograph of a big street in a big city. La Salle in Chicago, looking towards the Chicago Board of Trade building, is an iconic American urban view. Sam Mendes used it in the mobster classic – The Road to Perdition – and it has been glorified in many Batman iterations.
Chicago is urban beauty at its best and the presence of such a big building at the end of a street offers opportunities that Manhattan simply does not give. The eye is grabbed and then led deep into the vortex of Gotham.
I wanted a story that was cinematic and visceral and my founding principal was that we had to shoot at night. We could then wet the road to enhance reflections and deliver mood and use smoke machines to give the scene a gangster throwback feel. I spent a few hours in daylight on several intersections of La Salle pondering my lens selection and the right position. is aspect of the job was under my control and I had to get it right.
There was a riddle in that the Chicago Police Department was wonderful, but understandably would only close down the street after midnight, by which time the Board of Trade has switched off the flood lights on its iconic building. This was a problem and we had to move one of these variables in our favour. With some charm and a few dollars, the Board of Trade agreed to help us and the lights went back on until 4am.
I deliberately played with verticals in the composition because I felt that the retro Northern Trust sign was a useful vertical twin to the Board of Trade. There was a consistent play on height – so why not supplement this with a tall gangster and then most implausibly a tall wolf?
Great photographs can be looked at for a long time. I will leave others to decide if this is a great image, but I do know that it can be looked at for a very long time.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 56" x 79" (143 cm x 201 cm)
- Framed: 67" x 90" (171 cm x 229 cm)
STANDARD - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 37" x 52" (94 cm x 132 cm)
- Framed: 48" x 63" (122 cm x 160 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.
Chateau Marmont
Los Angeles, USA 2019
It was always my intent to shoot somewhere on Sunset Boulevard as part of our American Road trip series. It is such an iconic stretch of road that has played host to Hollywood stars and their cars for generations. The stretch heading west from Chateau Marmont to the Sunset Plaza is a rich feast for filmmakers, framed on either side with enormous billboards. Sunset Boulevard takes people on their own American dream – it is difficult not to feel energised when driving on it.
But it is far from easy to photograph here – it is a busy highway and the only time it can be closed down for filming tends to be early on a Sunday morning. Furthermore, to be able to use wolves in the car – integral to the theme of the series – West Hollywood was out of bounds as they do not allow the use of exotic animals in outdoor filming. Hollywood, however, does and the boundary line is right by Chateau Marmont.
To an extent, this made our choice of location relatively straightforward. Including the Chateau billboards or the Chateau itself would locate the image emphatically. The Castle On Sunset, as it is now affectionately known, is notorious – conjuring up imagery of sex, drugs and general bad behaviour. This is not a place that lends itself to reserved or quiet weekends. I saw a narrative that played to this reputation – and this demanded a frame that was both suggestive and sexy.
Alessandra Ambrosio is synonymous with the Victoria’s Secret brand. The Brazilian model has been pivotal to their shows and campaigns for years and I was delighted that she agreed to work with me. As always, I want to thank my dear friend Ed Razek – who helped make this possible. Alessandra is a stunning woman and very suited to the 1970’s look we styled her in.
The wolves were not easy to work with and we only had a limited opportunity between sunrise and 10 am when our permit expired. It was a morning of thinking fast and reacting to circumstances as we found them.
The end result is hopefully playful and sexy. What wolf wouldn’t want to arrive with Alessandra at the Chateau?
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 56" x 87" (143 cm x 221 cm)
- Framed: 67" x 98" (171 cm x 249 cm)
STANDARD - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 37" x 58" (94 cm x 148 cm)
- Framed: 48" x 69" (122 cm x 176 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.