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Martin Scorsese is one of my heroes and his framing is
so exceptional that we had to be at the top of our game
not to materially underachieve in any recreation
most extreme level this can evoke a sense
of trespassing. This was very much the
narrative behind this photograph. To be
greeted by an overtly territorial crew with
menace and attitude.
Our key asset was Cindy Crawford, and
she had to have sovereignty of the joint. She
can play a badass very well and that was her
ascribed role. The wolf is actually a domestic
dog breed called Tamaskan - he is not 100%
wolf, but that mattered little, as he merely
added to the sense of trespass.
KEEPING UP WITH THE CROUCHES
This bizarre frame, captured by a watering
hole on the north east side of Amboseli dry
lake, Kenya, was taken with a 28mm lens
placed on a remote-controlled camera.
THE WOLVES OF WALL STREET
If we were to pay homage to The Wolf of
Wall Street, we had to do it well. There was
no point in doing it in a casual way - after
all, Martin Scorsese is one of my heroes and
his framing is so exceptional that we had to
be at the top of our game not to materially
underachieve in any recreation.
The location of the abandoned office in
Simi Valley outside Los Angeles was ideal
for most of the cast - including Jordan
Belfort - the real Wolf of Wall Street, but not
so ideal for the wolves, as there was no
working air conditioning inside. This meant
importing huge AC units to keep the
animals cool.
Someone once said that the best pictures
can be looked at for a very long time. On
that level, this image wins.VANTAGE POINT
As part of my photographic anthology on
the wild west, it was always my intent to
bring native Indians and a railroad together
into an image, but I had no wish to objectify
either party. A photograph for instance, of a
hostile railroad attack by a party of Indians,
could be labelled as stereotyping or indeed
being blind to the provocation of what was
effectively an invasion by American settlers,
prospectors and capitalists.
After several scouting trips, I found an
ideal location 10,000 feet above sea level
on the track near Silverton, Colorado.
The train owners told us that this section
of the track had never been shot before and
that sense of ground breaking always gives
me a warm glow.BEARISH
Bears are not an easy subject matter for me;
in part because the backdrops are often a
little messy, and in part the obvious safety
issues. Fortunately, bears in Katmai, Alaska,
during the summer salmon runs are used to
sharing rivers with fishermen and are largely
comfortable with human presence.
This beautiful and sizeable sow caught our
eye and one rainy morning she put on a little
show for us out in the tundra. The light was
marginal, but I just about got away with it. I
was always looking for the head on shot and
the rain added another layer of textural detail
to what is a stunning bear.Giraffes are very skittish and even setting
up the camera is an issue if they are within
400 yards. They don’t like human presence
and why indeed should they? Over the years
we have failed with giraffe, but one
unbelievable piece of luck resulted in this
image. “Keeping up with the Crouches” –
a nod to a tall British footballer and Peter
and Abbey Crouch are delighted with the
name and they do indeed have four children.Bearish: A huge
bear sow (left) in
Katmai, AlaskaKenyan giraffes in
Keeping up with
the Crouches
(right)Vantage Point:
A classic steam
train in Colorado
(right)Paying homage
(left) to director
Martin Scorsese
with The Wolves
of Wall Street