Colorado, USA – 2021

The iron horse was as vital to the push west in America as the horse itself. The railroads linked the west to the nation as a whole and steam engines added a glamorous component to the wild west visual narrative. In researching my anthology to this period in American history, I was – as a romanticist – drawn towards these railroads. The research led us to the famous Durango to Silverton steam train in Colorado, partly because the track runs through the most dramatic of landscapes, but also because the narrow gauge track service remains largely the same as it was when the railroad opened in 1882. The iron horses themselves are authentic and in excellent working order.
We want to thank the owners of the train for collaborating with us on this project. We scouted for two days and then shot for a further two. Some of the staff were kind enough to say that this photograph is the most powerful they have ever seen of this famous train journey high in the Colorado mountains. I don’t know about that, but it is certainly my strongest image for many a month. I knew as soon as I took the picture that we had something and I have many people to thank – in particular the horse owners and cowboys. Positioning horses by a cliff edge with a steam engine coming around the corner requires top professionals and that is exactly what we had.
This was not a location for those suffering from vertigo. The key decision was to place a lone outlaw on the right hand of the track giving the frame compositional balance and despite his anonymity, his presence makes the photograph even more powerful.
I hope a few of these prints find homes in Colorado – that would make me very happy

Durango, Colorado, USA – 2021

This is special photograph for me and my cognitive processing has rarely played a bigger role in taking a picture. This period saloon scene in Durango, Colorado was a big ask and I don’t think I could have made this a couple of years ago. I sense that I have learnt from my mistakes and my work has improved in dimly lit rooms like this one. This is so much more of a challenge than photographing an elephant in Kenya and the stakes are much higher. With the talent involved, we had at least $100,000 of daily rates on site, I guess it’s a case of “go big or go home”.
It is a high risk game, but this kind of shoot excites me more these days. There were so many moving parts and so many talented people not to let down. I was ex- hausted when I hit my bed, but I think we achieved what we set out to do – a character rich, wild west bar scene filling every inch of the frame. It is also not a scene in any bar, but the Diamond Belle saloon in Durango, Colorado. Perhaps the most authentic and celebrated 1890 bar left in the Wild West.
The key was to compose the scene with the most menacing looking characters closest to the camera. I will always have the subject closest to the camera in focus and therefore the three leads at the table are core to the image. The balcony at the back, which is such a key feature of the Diamond Belle, adds another layer to the pho- tograph and that was always the intent.

The Teton Mountains, Wyoming, USA – 2021

The Teton Mountains in Wyoming have stature all year round, but on a cold, clear, winter morning looking west, I would contend they offer as impressive a backdrop for a filmmaker as any mountain range in the world. The key to their drama is their almost vertical rise from Snake River and the lake below. There is nothing pedestrian or pastural about their ascendancy to the sky.
Julie Andrews would have struggled to sing and nanny seven children on these slopes, in fact there are not many slopes. The hills are more alive to the dangers of an avalanche than they are to the sound of music.
This image was, however, made by the staged foreground narrative paying homage to the tough life of trappers. The dry lake offers a stage in winter, albeit an extremely cold stage.
The morning we brought the horses onto the lake we were working in temperatures of around -26 degrees before sunrise. That is cold not only for me but also the camera, the cowboy and possibly even the horses.
Riding on the frozen lake whilst leading another horse is only for a very skilled horseman and we had one in Randy Johnson – a veteran rodeo competitor and a rich character. This is a favourite image of mine and I think the lens choice and the time of the shot was right. 10 minutes later and the sun slams the mountains – at which point the balance of the picture would be lost.

USA – 2021

As we search the length and breadth of America for shooting locations, we are drawn to roads that lead the eye but are then halted by something monumental. This formula offers a closed end theatre from which to tell stories. The best urban example of this is perhaps La Salle Street in Chicago, which concludes with the Chicago Board of Trade. It is one of the most iconic views in any American city and, of course, Chicago is the showcase of American architecture. Sam Mendes made full use of this in “The Road to Perdition”.
Forrest Gump Point in Monument Valley is the American West at its majestic best and offers the same narrative of a journey’s end, albeit amidst the towering monoliths of Arizona. But perhaps my favourite setting for this box office effect is the old mining town of Telluride resting at 9,000ft in the mountains of southwestern Colorado. I would contend that looking east down Main Street on a clear day is one of the most visually thrilling sights in all of America. There is a timelessness to the street with the grandest and most imposing of backdrops. Of course, Telluride is now a glamorous Ski resort and my instincts were to shoot here in the winter; the mountain pops with the snow and if the weather cooperates, there can be the whitest of canvases to play with at street level.
The problem for film makers is that the main street of Telluride can only be shut off from the public on a Sunday morning and only then for a couple of hours. We arrived on set a few days before and the weather got warmer and warmer. The snow in Main Street became slush and then disappeared totally. Saturday was spent sunbathing and cursing our luck, but then at about 5pm, storm clouds started to gather and by 8 pm, there was a full-on blizzard.
We were overjoyed, but also concerned that if the storm continued until the morning, the mountain would be hidden and the moment lost. Without the mountain, there is no picture. At 6.45 am, with the team in position, some breaks appeared in the cloud and then around 7.15 am, I had my moment. We could not have wished for more. This picture is up there for me.
Perhaps luck is, indeed, the residue of design.

Texas, 2021

Harkening back to the Wild West with the cowboy characters stationed outside the local saloon, Yarrow manages to tie old American folklore to contemporary culture. At a glance, one might miss the cheeky nod of the “Bitcoin Saloon” in the background, commenting on how the idea of “loot” and valuables have changed since the pioneer days. In the case of cryptocurrency and its commercial success within recent years, there’s not as much of a need to go bounty hunting.