African Tails
Namib Desert, Namibia 2017
This cinematic image from the desert wilderness of Namibia works for me. The model – Erica Lawrence – has an extraordinarily strong personality to match her extraordinary legs and she commands the scene – quite a trick with a female cheetah sitting right next to her. They stare in parallel and this seems crucial to the integrity of the shot. It is up to the viewer to decide what is holding their gaze. But they are both clearly focused on the job in hand. Erica loves her hats and we never thought to ask her to take it off.
It was my intention to shoot on this dune at first light and this meant a very early start for us all. This was an extremely remote location and I knew that the sand would be pristine and sculpted relentlessly by desert wind. It was important not to leave any foot prints leading up to the image – no easy task with a cheetah that very much has a mind of her own. The sooner we had an image in the can the better, as the sand would quickly show more and more signs of our presence that morning.
We were wrapped by 7 am – a good result. It’s debatable whether there is much point shooting after 7:15 am in the desert – the sun gets high and strong all too quickly.
Available Sizes
LARGE: Edition of 12
- 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
- Image Size: 37" x 54" in (93.98 cm x 137.16 cm)
- Framed Image: 52" x 69" in (132.08 cm x 175.26 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.
Let's Catch The Last Train Home
Montana, USA 2018
No one is remembered for playing it safe. On the surface, the idea of placing a couple of exceptional women in front of an abandoned train in a ghost town high up in the mountains of Montana, and styling them in a way that exposes their curves as well as their personalities, is a risky concept in 2018. There is every chance that this work could be seen as gratuitous objectification and not art. It will irk many but equally, their coats were positioned very carefully.
But I will go with it and when I saw the print for the first time in large scale, I knew there was something and others have reinforced this belief. It just works and the more I review the intricacy of the train’s facade, I do think that there is a little magic – the icicles, the expression of the mountain lion, the textural beauty of the wood. The girls both rock and that was not easy for them – it was 15 degrees below zero that morning.
But what I am trying to say? Nothing – nothing at all – I am just playing with visual double takes and remembering that the wild west was exactly that. Let’s just catch the last train home.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12
- Image: 79" x 56" (201 cm x 143 cm)
- Framed: 90" x 67" (229 cm x 171 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12
- Image: 52" x 37" (132 cm x 94 cm)
- Framed: 63" x 48" (160 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.
The Last Chance Saloon
Virginia City, Montana 2019
To return to the Pioneer Bar in Virginia City, Montana is to return to my comfort zone and I feel an obligation to arrive with creative courage. We must push boundaries and not be lame in our conceptual processing. We have a free run here in the winter, when only 60 people live here and the Mayor only recently gave me the symbolic key to the city.
The group shots that I have photographed around the window end of the long bar have been well received and are difficult to top, especially as the last one included Cindy Crawford.
My premise this time was to markedly up the number of people in the picture (the most we had used before was six). This puts pressure on both the construction and the casting, as one lame character can become a tension point and ruin the whole image. We have all experienced the difficulty of group pictures on Christmas Day or Thanksgiving.
I think Ellen DeGeneres’ Oscar selfie works so well, not just because of the number of people in the image, but because every character is an additive. It is my favourite selfie.
We assembled a strong cast – the models Kate Bock from Cleveland and Olivia Culpo from Charlotte, native American families from Northern Montana and then, of course, my favourite local mountain men. The hair and makeup/styling team, led by Nikki Parisi out of LA, was outstanding. My direction was 150 years ago Wild West – appropriate as in the 1860s, over 15,000 lived in Virginia City and The Pioneer Bar would have been very busy.
All 11 characters played their roles well that day, but perhaps the picture is stolen by a lovely 85-year-old lady called Mary from Butte, Montana. We nearly called the picture “There’s Something About Mary” but perhaps her hair was not quite right.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 56" x 97" (143 x 247 cm)
- Framed: 67" x 108" (171 cm x 275 cm)
STANDARD - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 37" x 64" (94 x 163 cm)
- Framed: 48" x 75" (122 x 191 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.
Ride The Ghost Train
Ghost Town, USA 2015
For reasons I struggle to articulate, I have always been drawn to ghost towns. But having fulfilled this desire, I have been disappointed in the reality because invariably the lure of tourism has necessitated some immediately obvious modernity in the architecture. There are, however, a few villages from the gold rush in America that remain as they were left and after exhaustive field work, I found the best final frontier ghost settlement imaginable. I cannot reveal the destination for obvious reasons, but I persuaded the local government to open up the fenced off historic site for me.
It was a treasure trove of artefacts from 100 years ago – and best of all, there was a railway station and an abandoned carriage. Inside the carriage there was a surreal canvas on which to tell a story – snow on the rotten seats, broken windows and a central corridor strewn with the remnants of decades of decay.
On my first reconnaissance to the site, I saw the possibility of telling a story, but in a dreamy creative moment I thought I might need a wolf and some brave girls. It took some time to get all the logistics in place and I then needed the support of some talented and adventurous locals. We needed to shoot early for the light to be right and for the temperature to drop well below freezing – the wolf’s breath makes such a difference to the story within the picture and would not have been possible after the light and temperature had risen.
I am proud of this shot largely as it is difficult to know how it could be bettered. It is a reward for homework and logistical precision, but it is also testament to the animal handling skills of two people that were in the carriage that the lens could not see. This image will never, ever, be recreated.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition Size: 12
- Framed: 71" x 109" (180 x 277 cm)
STANDARD - Edition Size: 12
- Framed: 52" x 77" (132 x 196 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.
Dead Man's Hand
Butte, Montana, USA – 2020
In 1920 prohibition came into force in America and with it the advent of Speakeasy bars. In cities and town across America these establishments can still be visited, but precious few remain unchanged from the 1920s. In the old copper mining town of Butte, Western Montana, our team found a real gem through a concealed door and then down two sets of stairs. It was dark, cold and dusty, but it was authentic.
In its hey day of copper production, Butte was home to 100,000 people and the town sat on what was then called “The richest hill in the world”. Now just 30,000 folk remain and many of the buildings are totally abandoned. This particular “Speakeasy” must have been very busy at the weekend 100 years ago. My imagination ran wild as to what may have gone on – if only those walls could have talked.
The space was about as good as it gets for a staged shot and given that the poker table was still there, I did not have to reach too far in my creative processing. The models – Daniela Braga and Kate Bock did a brilliant job playing their roles as they always do. But so also did the wolf and indeed the whole cast. As for the game itself, the wolf had to be holding aces and eights – Dead Man’s hand. That was a no brainer from the start.
I want to thank the whole community in Butte Montana for their support during the filming. It was a true collaboration and they made us all feel very much at home – not easy as Butte is one of the most quirky places I have ever been too. Quirky, but also quite fabulous.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 50" x 102" (127 x 259 cm)
- Framed: 67" x 113" (172 x 287 cm)
STANDARD - Edition Size: 12
- Image: 37" x 76" (94 x 193 cm)
- Framed: 48" x 87" (122 x 221 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.
American Hustle
Montana, 2019
It was by pure chance that we found this treasure trove of a saloon bar off a remote country road in Western Montana. Time appeared to have stood still for over 100 years and as an authentic “Final Frontier” canvas on which to tell a story, I have never seen a better room in which to work. There was not one hint of modernity and the wooden and leather finish to the pool table was absolutely remarkable. The attention to detail throughout the bar was exceptional – the Bucking Horse is a labour of love for its owner – a true mountain man called John Crane.
48 hours before Cindy’s arrival, we spent a morning in the bar exploring every angle. The window light was okay, but the ambient light was marginal and it was clear we only had one angle to work with as I could not shoot towards the two windows. Luckily, with my maximum wide-angle lens, we could, from the chosen position, include enough of the bar to do it justice and also major on the pool table – which was the standout feature of the saloon.
The next question was what to do? This is an outstanding location and we needed to do it justice. We knew that the pool table would be critical and if we were to bring a wolf into the mix, he would need to be involved in the game.
On the day of the shoot, Cindy killed it – she was such a presence and that was exactly what I asked for. She owns the bar with her sovereign and authoritative look. I wanted to create a final frontier vignette that had a menacing overlay – no out of towner is coming into this territorial bolthole, playing pool and leaving with the cash. It is Wild West American hustle.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE - Edition Size: 20
- Image: 56" x 76" (143 cm x 193 cm)
- Framed: 67" x 95" (171 cm x 242 cm)
STANDARD - Edition Size: 20
- Image: 37" x 56" (94 cm x 143 cm)
- Framed: 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.
True Grit
It is integral to my style of animal portraiture to obsess on the lead characteristics of the subject and then look to magnify those characteristics. I always want a Champions League model, not a Third Division player. When I photograph African elephants, for instance, I work in Kenya which boasts the biggest, most magnificent elephants in the world. I would never go to Botswana to photograph an elephant – they are smaller than their East African cousins. With cowboys, I am drawn to the great state of Texas – where the most authentic, uncompromising, working cowboys in the world live their lives. The flat and arid, big sky topography of West Texas offers a distinctive canvas that not just locates an image, it also lends a stage on which to take a dynamic portrait. Texan cowboys are the real deal and the vastness of west Texas is their workplace.
On set on the Rio Grande, which divides America from Mexico, I met a working cowboy called Ryan Marshall. Mannered and tough, he boasted not only extraordinary horsemanship skills, but a bountiful and ageless moustache and beard. I knew that I had to take his portrait in full partnership with his magnificent horse, Frisco, and we had already scouted the perfect location and had been granted access to it the following day. The deal was done. The photograph wins because of its vitality and power, but also because of Ryan’s anonymity. I am an eyes person, but on this occasion, we don’t need them. This is west Texas and all the ‘True Grit’ that goes with it.
Available size options with and without framing are below;
- Large: 67 x 113 inches framed
- Standard: 48 x 78 inches framed
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.
Meet the Fockers
Texas – 2020
I have been fortunate to travel around much of the world taking photographs – but I don’t think I have found a better backdrop to stage a shoot than this remote outpost on the Mexican border in Big Bend Ranch State Park. It was a hell of a drive from the team’s base in Marfa and securing permits was challenging, but I knew it would be worthwhile – the building and the mountains behind were just so good. They play effortlessly into the lore of the Wild West. Better still, the area is called Contraband Creek. The nearest town of note is the bizarre art community of Terlingua.
It is difficult to imagine the circumstances that led to people living around here unless they were in a witness protection programme or cooking crystal meth. It’s a sketchy place that would look at home in a Mad Max movie, not mainstream Texas. It was clear that whatever I did with this gift of a canvas, the concept had to be badass and mean. Josie Canseco – the Victoria’s Secret girl – was perfect for the lead role as she can look badass and still retain her femininity and sexuality. My instincts were that my camera lens should be encroaching upon a place of outlaws and that the underlying narrative should major on the dangers of trespassing. There could be no happy ending for the trespasser here.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
Large: Edition of 12
- Image Size: 56” x 84” in (142.24 cm x 213.36 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 99” in (180.34 cm x 251.46 cm)
Standard: Edition of 12
- Image Size: 37” x 56” in (93.98 cm x 142.24 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 71” in (132.08 cm x 180.34 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.