Amarillo By Morning
Wagons evoke childhood memories of watching John Wayne Westerns on the BBC on cold winter evenings. No mode of transport is more emblematic of the great push West and the attendant dangers. For a storyteller of life on the final frontier, props don’t get any better, but finding an authentic one and taking it to the pre-researched location in the wilderness of West Texas is a challenge and an expense.
Anyhow, those issues overcome, the biggest problem with photographing a wagon on the move is that it does not suit my style of photography which would tend to be to shoot towards the oncoming wagon. This is simply because the horses’ heads will be at least 10 feet in front of the people driving the wagon. One or other would be in focus, but never both. To have the foreground subject out of focus is a tension point in any photograph and to have the human characters out of focus would seem fairly suboptimal. I wrestled with this the night before the shot and finally it dawned on me what to do.
I think it works and I have always wanted to have a picture with this title. I am sure they made it to Amarillo by morning.The whole image smells of old Texas and that was the goal.
Available size options with and without framing are below;
- Large: 65 x 114 inches framed
- Standard: 48 x 80 inches framed
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 End of the Line
Longhorn cattle are not only emblematic of Texas, they are also the most visually spectacular cows in the world. On location on the abandoned film set of “There Will Be Blood”, we tried different combinations with a few prize-winning cows. But the reality was very clear – they are not camera friendly. In fact, they are considerably less compliant than the elephants of Amboseli, Kenya.
To achieve this composition was a real test of the team’s patience and all my thanks go to Ryan Thompson and his fellow cowboys, who worked with great skill to engineer this frame. I was doubly appreciative, as lying on the old rail sleepers is not the most comfortable way to spend a morning. It was critical that the bull was facing me and there were no tension points with his fantastic horns. Rail roads were so integral to the great push West as indeed were wagons and it struck me that they could complement each other outside a station. There is no real need for people to be in the image – there is enough there and the composition works. This is a personal favourite of mine.
Available size options with and without framing are below;
- Large: 67 x 93 inches
- Standard: 48 x 65 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.
Happy Hour
Texas – 2020
It’s “Happy Hour” and yet everyone in this photograph looks fairly short of happiness – but of course that was my instruction. The less levity, the more the sense of a foreign land. Marfa is foreign land to most of us.
The Lost Horse Saloon Bar in the town is well known – in no small part because the legendary Anthony Bourdain filmed here during his “Parts Unknown” series. He chose well – it has depth to it, both literally and metaphorically. The owner, Tye Mitchell, is also the real deal and often brings his horse to the bar. He is no Bianca Jagger and the Lost Horse Saloon is no Studio 54 – but this is Texas, not Manhattan and horses at bars don’t seem that incongruous. It almost goes with the territory.
When we photograph in bars in America, there tends to be a couple of commonly used tactics. Firstly, we tend to have an open bar and secondly, we also take control of that bar and ask anyone that is not right for the picture to sit behind the camera – albeit beer or whisky in hand. Everyone has to earn their right to be included.
This picture was taken around 11pm and the bar bill was already in excess of $2000 and asking politely for everyone to listen and be compliant was only going to become more and more of a challenge. That’s where Ty came in handy – he bosses his bar with some authority.
LARGE: Edition of 12
- Image Size: 45” x 97” in (114.3 cm x 246.38 cm)
- Framed Image: 60” x 112” in (152.4 cm x 284.48 cm)
STANDARD: ALL EDITIONS ALLOCATED OR SOLD. Please contact us for more details.
- Image Size: 30” x 65” in (76.2 cm x 165.1 cm)
- Framed Image: 45” x 80” in (114.3 cm x 203.2 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.
Game of Pistols
Texas – 2020
Game of Thrones fans will recognise the lead in this picture – Nathalie Emmanuel who played Missandei in the iconic series. GOT received 58 Primetime Emmy Awards, the most ever by a drama series, including Outstanding Drama Series in 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019.
Nathalie, like me, is from London and it was rather surreal to have a good number of Brits together in our team on the Mexican border. She is refined, intelligent and understated – all of which made her a joy to work with.
Hair and make-up are so important in images like this and I want to thank Nikki Parisi from LA who is a regular in our crew for her talent and craft. Given what Nathalie is used to on set, we did not want to disappoint her. Composition is critical to my work – it is the engine room of any picture that passes our tests. The distribution of content works here and there was quite a bit to fit in. I wonder if Nathalie has ever stood in front of two men with an average height of 6ft 7” – even on the set of Game of Thrones.
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 53” in (93.98 cm x 134.62 cm)
- Framed Image: 52” x 68” in (132.08 cm x 172.72 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.