Sylte, Norway – 2025

“There is a rich assortment of detail in this frame and I sense that all of it helps to elevate the image. Of course, at its core, it is a photograph of a beautiful and famous 1948 Porsche 356, but I don’t see this as a car image; there are enough layers to tell a wider story.

The engine smoke coming from the 1920 ferry’s chimney gives a sense of travel, the aged ferry itself gives a sense of timelessness and meanwhile the fresh snow on the car deck, on the ship’s bell and on the life buoys, gives a sense of the cold. The glow from lights in the captain’s control room and up front gives a further nod to the low ambient winter light and the captain himself adds legitimacy to the journey. The imposing mountains behind the ferry inform us that we are in a location where travel cannot be routine. It is Viking country and home to legends, myths and folklore.

Nadine Leopold’s character is the reason for this ferry journey; we all know that. But where she is going and why is up to the viewer to imagine. Is she leaving someone behind or is she about to reunite? It could be either, but she will probably not be alone for long.

I would like to thank the octogenarian owners of the 1920 ferry – The Bilfergen – Scandinavia’s oldest working ferry. We have worked with many props over the years, but this beauty, so lovingly maintained by the owners, will take a great deal of beating.“

-David Yarrow

Eresfjord, Norway – 2025

“This would be a decent location for a shoot in the middle of summer, but in the winter, after a foot of fresh snow, it becomes a blowout location. Finding and
locking down permits for remote spots like this is an integral part of our work; in a single frame, there is no mileage for a lame backdrop. It matters not one bit that there isn’t a hotel within 50 miles – that, in fact, is a positive.

The 1948 Porsche 356 works perfectly as a prop too; its curves and the female model’s curves have a harmony that then visually elevates the harsh right angles of the austere ferry ramp. There is a calm serenity to the photograph, despite the props being an unlikely fusion of Stuttgart, Paris and Pittsburg.

These are the days in winter we long for – days when a storm ends and there is fresh snow on the ground and flat light. Our props and cast are in place and we can
just leverage the opportunity. It probably only happens to us once or possibly twice
a season, simply because the lead time for production is too long to plan around the weather and therefore when it does happen, it is largely just luck.

All we can do, when we are presented with an opportunity like this, is to try and make the most of it. There are many mundane days in the field when the weather does not cooperate and these perfect days are the payback days.

Chris de Burgh’s cult song from 1982, Don’t Pay the Ferryman, seemed a wry title for this photograph.“

-David Yarrow

Sylte, Norway – 2025

“The concept of this photograph was some time in the planning and its execution certainly marks a step forward in our ambition levels. I believe there is merit in committing to a story and not being spooked by the cost of production if something special is coming together. We have made mistakes in the past by looking at costs without looking at opportunity. The biggest mistake I can make is to curb ambition and not attack. We do not enjoy offering more of the same and there is a palpable commitment to try and surprise.

The Porsche 356 convertible on the ferry was manufactured in 1948 and the ferry is the oldest still operating in Norway – coming into service all of 125 years ago. I immediately recognised the visual potential of this improbable union when they met each other at the ferry quay in the remote village of Sylte in the Norwegian mountains south of Molde. The ferry crew, with an average age of 80, deserved to be fully rewarded for sailing the Bilfergen through the fjords in a snowstorm to meet me. Their journey lasted 12 hours.

The fjords in this area have grandeur and beauty and no more so than after the denouement of a meaningful winter storm. Norwegians are good in bad weather and we needed all their celebrated experience of working on icy roads to get the Porsche and its transit lorry through the mountains to the meet point in time. There is only about four hours of decent light at this time of year and time was critical.

We had a strong set of cards to play with that cold morning, but I needed to prioritise the conveyance of a sense of place without losing the currency of having such powerful props. The solution to the puzzle, which we had anticipated, was to film in the middle of the fjord from the deck of another boat of similar
height. If I could get very close to the ferry and use a wide-angle lens, I could get the compositional balance that I was striving for.

The most credit for this photograph should go to The Girl on the Ferry – Nadine Leopold – who did an excellent job of looking warm and graceful on a cold winter’s morning. That was a big ask.“

-David Yarrow