The Usual Suspects II
Montana – 2024
Archival Pigment Print
“The first time that I set foot in Montana, I knew I was in a very special place. It was not just the majesty of the scenery, it was the characters that lived there. I have long had a visceral attraction to the Wild West and no state embodies the final frontier of America more than Montana. In the hills in the winter, there is a sense of timelessness. The clock seemingly broke about 100 years ago.
Over the last few years we have been fairly relentless networking up in a village in the mountains. I have been there 7 times and we have invested emotionally as well as financially in order to be able to tell stories with the camera. This week – on Robbie Burns night – appropriately enough – we had our reward. There was no point attempting this without a solid base of locals that genuinely wanted to help.
I know this bar in the mountains inside out and the locals know me. Everyone wanted a role in the shoot, but we had to be selective. I wanted ex-convicts, wolf wranglers, wannabe Davey Crocketts and crazy old mountain men that are drunk by 11 am. But it needed more – the barmaid had to have the right look – as she would be pivotal to the image – as would the chosen mountain man. It would be a key juxtaposition. I found the girl – Roxanna Redfoot (what a name) – from Dallas and she was brilliant.
The wolf I could rely on – I have worked with him before and so long as he doesn’t tire I had a chance. But there is no light in the bar – so it as all seat-of-the-pants stuff technically – there was no margin for error in focus. A flash gun would destroy the emotion and sense of place.
As I expected, most of the photographs were not sharp or someone messed up (including me). The composition was always however bang on. I just needed one stroke of luck – 1 / 125th of a second that would capture Montana. I think we nailed it!
“The Usual Suspects”…indeed.”
-David Yarrow
Available sizes
Large: Edition of 12, 3 AP, 1 EP
- Image Size: 56″ x 99″ in (142.24 cm × 251.46 cm)
- Framed Image: 71″ x 114″ in (180.34 cm × 289.56 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12, 3 AP, 1 EP
- Image Size: 37″ x 66″ in (93.98 cm × 167.64 cm)
- Framed Image: 52″ x 81″ in (132.08 cm × 205.74 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.
Where's My Lunch? Last Orders II
Montana, USA – 2018
“The Jersey Lilly is the most authentic and isolated “Final Frontier” saloon bar I know in America. Based in the town of Ingomar, Montana (population 12), it is a long way from anywhere. In fact, there is no store or fuel within a 45-minute drive north, south, east or west. It truly is the “last chance saloon”.
My fixer in Montana spoke to the owner – a cowboy rather splendidly called “Boots” – and he agreed that we could use the interior and exterior for filming on a Monday and Tuesday in the early summer – when the bar itself would normally be closed. Permits were also secured with the local authorities to allow us to film in the bar with a tamed bear.
I did a reconnaissance the previous Saturday – a good three hour round trip from Billings, Montana – to check the light and the bar’s interior. It was clear that there was potential to tell a “wild west” story, but equally I would have very little depth of field in any photograph I took – the window light was okay, but not overly generous. I was drawn to the number of animal heads on the wall and in particular the massive bison in the top corner seemed a great prop to play with, albeit I needed a composition to show it off.
Roxana Redfoot from Dallas, Texas is a star – she is smart, as well as striking and can play any character role. On this occasion, her role was within her comfort zone – a sassy and smokingly sexy saloon bar maid with a no-nonsense approach to over eager customers. The customer, Adam – a 1000 lb brown bear – is not normally aggressive but working with him is far from easy – as he does not speak English. Roxanna showed no anxiety and was theatrical and focused from start to finish. Her eyes had to tell a story.
For my part, I had a preconception and an image in my head. It was vital to me that both the bear’s head and Roxy’s head had to be equidistant from my camera lens – which probably meant that they had to be looking at each other. I knew that we would have a limited window of opportunity as Adam was not going to play the role for long – he gets bored easily. Luckily the rabbit behind the bar kept him focused for longer than I expected.
The vast majority of shots did not work for one reason or another – my focus, the bear’s head position or the interaction between the two characters. But this one image is a gem. The American Wild West – you cannot beat it as a canvas on which to paint a playful vignette.“
-David Yarrow
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.
Honky-Tonk Woman
Texas, USA – 2022
Bandera, Texas is the self-appointed home of the cowboy and a visitor is left in no doubt that this is the beating heart of Marlboro country and Marlboro men. This small town in the Hill Country also boasts a bar – Arkey Blue’s Silver Dollar – that is as good a honky-tonk bar to film in that I know of. It is also a firm fixture in the country music scene which is core to the culture of this part of the great state. Willie Nelson has sung here, as has Hank Williams, and of course, the owner himself, Arkey Blue.
Three requirements must be met for the saloon to work for me. I need a decent amount of ambient light from a door or a window; I need the décor to have a quintessential dive bar look to it and I need a well-positioned old pool table around which to build the narrative. We did our research in the area and Arkey Blues looked the most promising and the reality when we arrived was even better.
The cowboys had an important role to play in this image, but it wasn’t their toughest day at work. Many had just returned from being wranglers on the set of 1883, which allegedly involved 16-hour days. In contrast, all they had to do in this shoot was be themselves, have a beer and just be a little infatuated with our lead – Roxanna. All quite easy stuff.
I have had this photo in my mind for as long as I started to immerse myself in the cowboy culture of Texas. For those who think this timeless culture may hold the state back, it is worth perhaps remembering that in 2023, Texas will be the 9th biggest economy in the world.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 96” in (142.24 cm x 243.84 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 111” in (180.34 cm x 281.94 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37” x 63” in (93.98 cm x 160.02 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 78” in (132.08 cm x 198.12 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.
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.
A Street Car Named Desire
Montana, USA 2018
I have wrestled with how I could convey the drama of a wolf encounter for some time. The problem, in my mind, was that I wanted the tension of proximity to be coupled with a palpable sense that the drama was yet to be played out – it could go either way. I wondered how Hitchcock would work this – it was not good enough to have distance between the two subjects as focus would then be an issue. The wolf and human needed to be equidistant from the camera to make them both sharp.
Then one day in Montana three years ago, high up in the mountains, I saw an abandoned farm truck not far from the main road. It had probably been there for over 60 years and was now just a rusty shell. It clearly offered potential to play out this concept but ideally I needed fresh snow on the bonnet and roof. The more virginal the snow cover the better.
This year I had my fresh snow and in Roxanna Redfoot, I had the perfect girl to cast in the role of the prey. The doors would not budge and she had to climb in through the broken window – but that was not a big deal for Roxanna even in tough temperatures. She is a rock star and I have no doubt that Hitchcock would have cast her at every opportunity.
It’s one of those images in which simply everything works.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 56" x 62" (143 cm x 158 cm)
- Framed: 67" x 73" (171 x 186 cm)
STANDARD - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 37" x 41" (94 cm x 105 cm)
- Framed: 48" x 75" (122 x 191 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.