Gandalf
DAVID YARROW
GANDALF
South Africa, 2019
Archival Pigment Print on 315gsm Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta Paper
Each is signed, dated and numbered on the front.
Edition Size: 12
Available in two sizes:
STANDARD:
Print Size: 45" x 37"
Framed Size: 56” x 48" (142 cm x 122 cm)
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**In stock. Available for immediate shipment or delivery**
LARGE:
Print Size: 68" x 56"
Framed Size: 79” x 67” (200 cm x 170 cm)
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**In stock. Available for immediate shipment or delivery**
Price may change depending on currency exchange rates from British Pounds Sterling to U.S. dollars
Framed in David Yarrow's custom black ash frame with white archival mat and UV protective acrylic.
Please contact us at +312.852.8200 for more details about this work.
Or email us at info@hilton-asmus.com
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David Yarrow's Statement about GANDALF:
This white lion, named after Tolkien’s character Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings, is one of the most formidable lions within Kevin Richardson’s famous sanctuary. Kevin is comfortable walking with most of the lions under his care, but this is not one of them.
Nevertheless, I wanted to take a tight portrait of Gandalf where my eyes were exactly at his eye level. This was not going to be simple. I needed to be close, but also safe. Kevin and I worked on an approach that involved shooting through an improvised latch in one of his maximum-security fences.
The first time we tried this approach in the late afternoon, Gandalf was preoccupied by other things. When he eventually approached us, the evening light was uneven across his face, which distracted from the detail. There was no shot.
But that night at camp, when I looked at the photographs I had taken, I realized the great potential of the idea that Gandalf looked like a mythological beast, and he had so much mane that I knew I could fill the frame from about eight feet with no more than a 105mm lens. He was like something out of a fairy tale all battle scared and white the most fearsome cat I had ever seen.
We agreed the best time to work would be just be- fore sunrise. There would be enough light to have the depth of field I needed, but the light would also be flat and even. Moreover, Kevin thought Gandalf would be slightly more cooperative first thing in the morning.
We had our moment around 6:45 a.m. Thanks to Kevin’s extraordinary ability to work with lions, Gandalf positioned himself in the one place that my idea could succeed and then he stood and stared me down.
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DAVID YARROW BIOGRAPHY:
Born Glasgow, Scotland in 1966., David Yarrow took up photography at an early age and as a 20-year-old found himself working as a photographer for The London Times on the pitch at the World Cup Final in Mexico City. On that day, David took the famous picture of Diego Maradona holding the World Cup and, as a result, he was subsequently asked to cover the Olympics and numerous other sporting events.
Yarrow’s evocative and immersive photography of life on earth is most distinctive and it has earned him an ever growing following among collectors. He has firmly established himself as one of the bestselling fine art photographers in the world, with the limited edition prints regularly selling at over $70,000 and with recent work selling in the six figures at auction.
At the Sotheby’s photography auction in London in May 2017, Yarrow’s iconic image from South Sudan – MANKIND – was sold for $75,000, the highest of the 100 lots in the show. In April of 2018 year David’s image “The Wolf of Main Street” sold for $100,000 and was the highest bid for piece by a living photographer. Most recently “78 Degrees North” went for an even more impressive $110,000.
In 2016, Rizzoli New York published Yarrow’s latest book – Wild Encounters – with a foreword written by HRH The Duke of Cambridge (Prince William). The book was awarded “Art Book of 2017” by Amazon and has already sold out a second print run. All Yarrow’s royalties from the book continue to be donated to Tusk, the leading British NGO that focuses on animal conservation in Africa.
Philanthropy and conservation are central to David Yarrow’s passion to document the animal and human world in a fresh and creative way. In 2019 charitable donations from the sale of David’s images exceeded $2.5 million.
David Yarrow is brand ambassador for Land Rover and UBS Bank; he is European ambassador for Nikon Camera. In December 2017 he shot Tag Heuer LVMH’s latest “Don’t Crack Under Pressure” campaign with model and actress Cara Delevingne. In January 2019, David collaborated with American icon Cindy Crawford.
In September 2019, Rizzoli published Yarrow's 368 page photography monograph, showcasing 150 of David’s strongest images from the past two years. The book features a foreword written by global NFL star Tom Brady and an afterword written by American cultural icon Cindy Crawford. All royalties from this book will be donated to conservation charities Tusk, in the UK and WildAid, in the US.