Ain’t My First Rodeo
Texas, USA 2021
The mythical cowboy, whose image has been shaped by history, fiction and folklore, is unquestionably America’s predominant symbolic native son. For many people across the world, a cowboy is the most American thing they can think of. For that we should be thankful. Much better this noun than a Big Mac or even an Apple Mac.
Texas is the home of the cowboy and it is also the home of the longhorn. It was the birthplace of the great cattle drives north to the Kansas railroads in the 1870s and the names of the State’s leading sports teams leave us in no doubt as to the pride in the region’s heritage.
The cowboy and the longhorn remain part of today’s Texas and in West Texas we have built up a strong network of contacts who are now happy to allow us to drop into their daily lives. Filmmaking in my mind is a team sport – we are always reliant on the help and excellence of others. We have invested time in the communities of western Texas and we are now slowly reaping the rewards.
This was not an easy frame to take, as the big steer is turning towards my default flat position on the ground. There is quite an adrenaline rush at that level of proximity and this is not something to try on your own. I had seasoned cowboys on the ground right beside me.
I had no expectation of Ryon Marshall – my go to Texan cowboy – being in pin sharp focus. It was not necessary for the narrative to hold up. What mattered was that the steer was flying and that the face and eyes were pin sharp.
The composition is fortunate, as it does look as if Ryon is flying. Anything is possible with him, as it certainly isn’t his first rodeo.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56" x 70" in (142.24 cm x 177.8 cm)
- Framed Image: 71" x 85" in (180.34 cm x 215.9 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37" x 46" in (93.98 cm x 116.84 cm)
- Framed Image: 48" x 57" in (121.92 cm x 144.78 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.
Drovers
This photograph was taken in 2021, but I sense it could have been taken in 1870. We are drawn to filming locations exuding a palpable sense of timelessness thus offering optionality on the narrative.
The more remote the location, the greater the possibility for us to remove the “now” and let our imagination jump into any era over the last six or seven generations. West Texas is my West World and that is why this bleak, mournful and unforgiving canvas has such a grip on me. It is part of America that time most certainly forgot. No wonder film makers have long been lured here.
Cowboys and cattle are not a new story; the partnership is one of the most enduring symbols of post-Civil War America and that is why they visually complement this landscape so effortlessly.
We knew what we wanted to do here, but working against the light with this amount of dust is a low percentage game. Dust can be a cameraman’s friend as it defies gravity, but there is a tipping point when it becomes his foe. On this frame, the lead drover is just out of the dust storm allowing for detail and the full benefit of the back light. The rest of this particular series was of no use at all. That is what we mean by a low percentage game.
I am in awe of the cowboys with whom we work in West Texas. They are the real deal and nothing is too much trouble for them. They have manners, work ethic and a sense of duty.
Texas is often mocked, but I think we can learn a great deal from cowboy culture.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
Standard
- Image size: 30" x 67"
- Framed with a 3" mat: 41" x 78"
- Framed with a 5" mat: 45" x 82"
Large
- Image size: 44" x 101"
- Framed with a 3" mat: 55" x 112"
- Framed with a 5" mat: 59" x 116"
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 Supper in Texas
Texas, USA 2021
This was a challenging set, but great fun. We did all we could to be true to the concept. Indeed, after the shoot was wrapped at dusk, we enjoyed a contemporary Texan feast on site with barbequed steak, ample refreshment and live country music. The chosen location was a private ranch not many miles north of Big Bend National Park on the Mexican border.
In my mind this was always going to be a West Texas shoot. My intent was that every one of my frontier characters had to be strong and play their role with authority. I was less concerned with mirroring the exact positioning in Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece than I was with the personal safety of the talent as the steer was a massive animal and we had no real option but to work around him and his comfort zone.
There was no picture without the Longhorn, but it was not easy to encourage him into the centre of the set during the ideal light – which was about an hour before sunset. Roxanna Redfoot from Dallas always plays her role to perfection, no matter the circumstances, and this shoot was another case in point. She cuts the perfect contrast to all around her. The cowboys didn’t need to dress up; they are what they are down on the Rio Grande.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
Standard
- Image size: 31" x 67"
- Framed with a 3" mat: 42" x 78"
- Framed with a 5" mat: 46" x 82"
Large
- Image size: 46" x 100"
- Framed with a 3" mat: 57" x 111"
- Framed with a 5" mat: 61" x 115"
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 (Colour)
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 sizes
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image size: 56” x 102” in (142.24 cm x 259.08 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 117” in (180.34 cm x 297.18 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image size: 37” x 67” in (93.98 cm x 170.18 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 82” in (132.08 cm x 208.28 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.
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.
3:10 to Yuma
Railway tracks can be visually strong props for photographers and filmmakers as they lead the eye and also offer a palpable sense of travel and adventure. The problem is that train tracks are mostly live and therefore out of bounds for working artists.
Railroads played an integral role in the push West in the 19th century and the pioneering spirit that characterised their construction has long fascinated me. We located a disused track not far from Marfa in West Texas stretching all the way to Presidio on the Mexican border. It ran through private land and in one cattle ranch a modest station had been built to the side of the track for the Oscar winning 2007 movie “There will be blood”. We negotiated terms with the ranch owner and he gave us access to film on a location well known to Daniel Day Lewis.
My preconception was to push modern sensibilities to one side and to play to the stern masculine traditions of Westerns. I wanted a grittiness to the narrative and a simple story of final frontier “badness” at work. The more you complicate Westerns, the less effective they can become. I like to tell stories using archetypal imagery and bring my own vision of Western lore. I think it is always better to exaggerate and amplify – just as Tarantino did so exceptionally well in “Django Unchained”. Why dumb it down?
This was not a simple set up – getting an authentic wagon to this remote location required considerable resourcefulness. The composition and lighting work and the model – Josie Canseco – played her tragic role wonderfully well. Sometimes an idea just comes off and there is not much I would change in this frame.
AVAILABLE SIZES:
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 89” in (142.24 cm x 226.06 cm)
- Framed Image: 71” x 104” in (180.34 cm x 264.16 cm)
STANDARD: ALL EDITIONS ALLOCATED OR SOLD. Please contact us for more details
- 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.
The Magnificent Seven
Marfa, Texas – 2020
The outdoor bar at The Lost Horse Saloon in Marfa, West Texas, is just how I hoped an outdoor bar, in traditional cowboy country, would look like – a mishmash of wood, corrugated iron, weaponry, stuffed animals and beer merchandise. My preference is that these bars should be cluttered and deeply individualistic – there are no formulas in West Texas other than in the Crystal Meth motorhomes. On our scouting, I was immediately drawn to the sign on the front of the bar which located the destination in the most authoritative of ways. Marfa may only have a modest population of 2,121, but almost everyone in Texas has heard of Marfa. It is the art outpost where “Burning Man” meets “No Country for Old Men”. Absolutely nothing about the place – which sits three hours from the nearest commercial airport – is in any way normal.
My creative prompts in using the facade of the bar were led by two dominating objectives – firstly, to make sure that everything and everyone in the picture earned their space and secondly, I wanted the lighting to remain fairly dim so that the character of the joint was retained. To flood the narrative with light would give me greater depth of focus, but it could turn the bar into a sitcom studio. We needed to hold back. The magnificent seven all earned their place and it was a thrill to work with the lovely Nathalie Emmanuel – the English actress that many will know from playing Missandei in Game of Thrones. She was much easier to instruct than the horse, but he is so used to being in that bar that we got there in the end. The white nose of the horse was a bonus.
Available size options with and without framing are below;
- Large: 67 x 93 inches framed
- Standard: 48 x 65 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.
Living Without Borders
I took this photograph of the legendary West Texas cowboy – Ty Mitchell – on a sandbank on the Rio Grande. Ty stands 6ft 5” tall and my general assessment is that not much fazes this guy. Meanwhile, the location is about as good as it gets and is rather wonderfully named Contraband Creek.
I was standing in Mexico and 20 yards across the river was the US. Every time I walked knee deep across the river to change a lens or camera, I entered America and then on my return I re-entered Mexico. I think I actually entered America four times in a morning – all rather surreal with this talk of a wall.
I would like to thank the US Border Patrol in Texas for being so accommodating to our crew that day in Big Bend National Park. They – like me – must think “The Wall” is now a long way off because in 2020 the US has a real crisis on its hands.
Coronavirus does not discriminate and does not recognise fame, borders, passports, race or religion. It is the ultimate leveller and rams home our mortality and our fragility. There is little good news right now, but one eventual positive is that we should emerge from this as less selfish and less discriminating people.
Available size options with and without framing are below;
- Large: 67 x 74 inches
- Standard: 48 x 53 inches
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 Lost Horse Saloon
Marfa, Texas – 2020
A great facade for an authentic Texas working bar with the two neon lights outside. But this frame was a technical challenge because these two lights offered insufficient ambient light to give any detail outside – even before contemplating capturing a rearing horse.
This meant using some LED lighting but we had to be careful not to kill the mood. The only card I had in my hand was that I could open up the lens and sacrifice depth of field, as all the detail I wanted would be within a narrow range from my camera. This gave me a chance.
The girls did a great job, as did the cowboy and the horse. The Heath Ledger type cowboy in the bar was a good addition and then it was just down to luck with the horse on a longish shutter speed. A year ago, we did a similar outdoor shot in Big Timber, Montana. Coyote Ugly – as we called it – was well received. The Lost Horse Saloon was much more of a challenge on so many levels. The two certainly complement each other very well. Maybe this is the start of something.
Available Sizes
LARGE: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 56” x 71” in (142.24 cm x 180.34 cm)
- Framed Image: 71" x 86" in (180.34 cm x 218.44 cm)
STANDARD: Edition of 12 + 3 AP
- Image Size: 37" x 47" in (93.98 cm x 116.84 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 62” in (132.08 cm x 157.48 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.