The Pioneer bar in Virginia City has offered so
much to us over the years and we are acutely
conscious not to overplay our hand here. After
all, there are many other weathered saloons
in the West. We don’t want to be repetitive in
our story telling. That would be lame.
Equally, for our work, The Pioneer is emphatically
the best bar known to us. It has
depth and the wagon wheel on the ceiling
is ideally positioned. More importantly, it is
home turf for us and last year I was honoured
to receive “The Freedom of the City”. I have
the key in my briefcase. The owner of The
Pioneer partners with us rather than simply
permiting us and that is a material difference.
But when we go back each winter, it is
important to bring a new variable to offer
the chance of an image that can transcend.
There is no point going backwards. My new
variable this time was Cara Delevingne and
her established team of stylists and hair and
make-up artists. To bring such a celebrated
and relevant woman as Cara to Montana is
fresh ground. Put her in front of the Eiffel
Tower and it is a new look on the Eiffel Tower.
I gave her team a directive for this shot:
bad ass; sexy; sovereign; 1920s but still very
much Cara. They absolutely nailed it, as did
she. The hat made a huge difference. I can’t
think of any other woman in the world I would
prefer to play this role.
These are not easy images to execute as
there is such limited light. Depth of field and
shutter speeds are therefore compromised.
Cara would always be sharp - that was easy -
then we had to hope for some luck elsewhere.
Cameras have improved so much over the
years in terms of ability to work in low light.
I could not have done this 10 years ago. But
you are pushing the camera right to the edge
of its capability.
She owns this shot.