Who could blame David Yarrow devotee Shay Billings for coveting the fine art photographer’s All Nighter in Cowtown?
The 71-by-98-inch piece depicts the heart of her hometown of Fort Worth.
“It’s something I’ll have to save my pennies for,” the Preston Hollow resident joked, adding that her goal for the evening was to meet Yarrow and procure an autographed book.
“There’s quite a long wait list, but I’m hoping I can get a book signed tonight,” Billings said at a gallery exhibit last fall.
Yarrow has garnered a cult following. When the prolific storyteller made a stop in Dallas on his rounds to Oslo, Monaco, and Vancouver, the guest waitlist ran amuck with many Park Cities and Preston Hollow fans turning out.
The two-night events were held at the award-winning Samuel Lynne Galleries opened by artist JD Miller and restauranteur and painter Philip Romano.
Miller, who hosted the artist’s It’s a Wonderful World exhibition, praised the pioneer for “possessing an undeniable aptitude for capturing the splendor of what remains wild and free in our world.”
While his realistic imagery seems to defy logic, there’s nothing tawdry in Yarrow’s work — his commitment to capturing a story evident in his depictions.
Yarrow’s cast of characters range from wild animals and cowboys to supermodels and A-list celebrities. As the assortment played out in a proscenium-type production on the big screen, only a few images from the artist’s finical lens survived the cutting room floor.
Sotheby’s auction house has reported the chosen ones have sold for over six-digit figures.
“These have to be photoshopped,” remarked gallery guest Scott Haynes, the newcomer to Yarrow’s work unaware his nescient assumption would swiftly be rebuffed.
Behind the images of Yarrow’s multi-layered story arcs, preparations resemble a cinematic production chock-full of scripting, character casting, lighting elements, and deep dives into landscape, culture, and climate. Musical accompaniment enhancing his slideshow commentary, the artist fittingly weaved connections to Hemingway and Steinbeck into his storytelling. “The biggest myth is that photography is characterized by singularity, when it’s actually plurality,” he said.
The artist explained how key the groundwork is to his photography, emphasizing his wildlife depictions are not akin to a safari tourist snapping away with high-priced, long-lens camera equipment.
Wading waist-deep in muddy swamplands with painstaking patience to capture an orangutang and shrugging off snow squalls to convey the espirit de corps of huskies sledding across the Arctic, Yarrow isn’t sitting on the sidelines creating his masterpieces.
With the rugged confidence of a man who, while lying in front of a crocodile as dusk dims the safety net of daylight, could conceivably survive a snap of the predator’s jaws, Yarrow acknowledged that it’s only after comprehensive research and planning that he is…well, as prepared as he can be for the unexpected.
“Photographing China’s The Siberian, the planet’s most visually affecting animal also capable of killing a human in eight seconds, involved a trade-off between safety and proximity,” said the photographer.
Designating the cowboy as “the most enduring symbol of America,” Yarrow recounted his efforts to properly depict the cowboy’s spiritual home of the Fort Worth Stock Yards in All Nighter in Cowtown.
With fans tugging at his sleeve, Yarrow appeared as comfortable in front of the camera as behind it. Prepared to close out the evening greeting fans, he suddenly pivoted to the young man on the sound mixer behind him. And, with a move evocative of the rapid pressing of his shutter button, a gesture revealed a more intimate side to the cameraman’s rugged persona.
As the two shared a laugh, a tranquility overtook the burly lens-man, and a smile any dad would delight in emanated from his young mentee’s face.
Outside the gallery, Billings departed on the red carpet. With a large hardcover book in hand, she turned and shouted, “It’s a signed copy!
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