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Picture

NORTH OF THE WALL

Pryramiden, Svalbard 2019
I know Pyramiden quite well - I have visited 4 times. It is a largely abandoned Russian mining town that sits at 78.2 degrees north - making it the most northerly community in the world. Only six people now live there full time, but it remains a ghostly reminder of the USSR. Soviet culture, architecture and politics permeate the town, from the block-style housing to the bust of Lenin—the world’s northernmost statue of that communist revolutionary— which gazes down, fatherly and proud, on Pyramiden’s main square.

I have always wanted to get a big photograph of this creepy place, but I needed winter, winds and a palpable sense of the frozen north. This is not a place to photograph in the summer. Most of all I needed a polar bear. In early spring 2019, I had my moment.

There is enough detail in the background layer of this photograph to make out factory buildings, chimneys, carts and tracks and indeed a disused mineshaft. The light was kind and the wind ferocious. With the wind chill, this was as cold as I can remember working with a camera. I had to wear one glove and manual focus was not easy. This was not a time to use autofocus on that bear - not with the wind and medley of whites.

The photograph is a indeed a big photograph - bigger than I could have possibly wished for. There is a large amount of luck involved as the adult female bear came into town at the perfect time - one of just 5 adult bears we saw in Svalbard that week.

This is the land of norse legends, myths and fables. The photograph is so visually detached from our day to day experiences that it looks like a fairytale or a painting. This is surely my Game of Thrones moment and now I have seen what is North of the Wall.
​

This photograph was taken whilst leading an assignment with @naturalworldsafaris - a special thank you to the brilliant team there for organising the adventure.
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AVAILABLE SIZES
LARGE:  67" x 98" (170 cm x 249 cm)

STANDARD: 48" x 68" (122 cm x 172 cm)
​
​AVAILABLE EDITIONS
LARGE: Edition of 12
STANDARD: Edition of 12
Picture

Copyright © 2017-2018 Hilton-Asmus Contemporary, All Rights Reserved.
  • welcome
    • about us
    • our team
    • contact us >
      • artist submissions
  • ARTISTS DIRECTORY
    • artists
    • poets
  • EXHIBITIONS
  • press
    • JULIAN WASSER press
    • BLAKE WARD & BOKY HACKEL-WARD press release
    • Classic Chicago Magazine
    • DAVID YARROW PRESS >
      • Picture this post david yarrow
      • WCIU David yarrow
      • Le Bon David Yarrow
      • ABC7 Roz Varon David yarrow
    • THE NEW ART EXAMINER: DAVID YARROW
    • WALL STREET INTERNATIONAL: History of the Chess Queen
    • DAVID YARROW - HELLO MAGAZINE PRE
    • DAVID YARROW: "North Korea’s Kim Jong Un’s popularity has never been higher"
    • ROBERT FLEISCHMAN ABC7 INTERVIEW
    • ARICA HILTON - WOMANSCAPE
    • LA FEMME - Michigan Avenue Magazine
    • BLAKE WARD - Art Diversions
  • VIDEOS
  • Photo Gallery
    • SINATRA: MY KIND OF TOWN Private Dinner
    • DAVID YARROW WILD ENCOUNTERS
    • HISTORY OF THE CHESS QUEEN- 09/08/17
    • LA FEMME: BEAUTY & FORM - 06/30/16
    • Ana Castillo Book Signing - 06/10/16
    • EXPLORING STONE (Dialogue Between Susan Aurinko & Jyl Bonaguro) - 06/02/16
    • John Perkins Book Signing - 05/06/16
    • BLAKE WARD "Inner Perceptions, Outer Reflections" 4/7/16
    • An Evening with Eve Ozer - 03/11/16
    • Ann Catherine - Fashion Event - 02/05/16
  • blog