Famed Wildlife PhotographerDavid Yarrow and Superstar Cindy Crawford Create Exhibition for Kids with Cancer Benefit
David Yarrow’s photography is appreciated around the world for evoking the stories of wildlife in indigenous landscapes. The renowned British author, conservationist, and fine-art photographer is also internationally regarded for his photography of famous athletes, cinema stars, and fashion models. Recently, he collaborated with super model Cindy Crawford to create a massive display of his work at the Morgan Arts Complex at Hilton Asmus Contemporary Art-Bridgeport in Chicago to benefit the American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin and the University of Wisconsin’s Kids Cancer Program.
Super model Cindy Crawford is a hero to northern Illinois. Born in DeKalb, she graduated from high school there. She studied chemical engineering at Northwestern University before giving up engineering to become a model.
Along the way, her brother Jeffrey died of leukemia at a tender age, so children’s cancer charities have been near and dear to her heart.
For the exhibition, David Yarrow recreated Cindy Crawford’s iconic Pepsi commercial—staged with Tamaskan dogs from Finland, which look like wolves—to celebrate the famous ad.
What is it like for the super star of David Yarrow Photography to work with supermodel Cindy Crawford?
“You absolutely have to be on your game when you work with Cindy Crawford,” David Yarrow says. “You absolutely cannot (mess) up when this beautiful woman is on the other side of the camera.”
Cindy Crawford says of David Yarrow: “David can recreate an iconic image with a David Yarrow twist.” In recreating the Pepsi commercial, David’s idea was to “return to the same location, but add exciting, interesting, beautiful visual elements. I had been in the car in the original commercial, but David chose a different car for the reimagining. There were no dogs in the commercial. There were two young boys.”
David Yarrow has worked with Cindy Crawford on numerous other projects. Among David Yarrow Photography’s recent photographs of the world-renowned model are Once Upon a Time, shot in Los Angeles in 2019, Empire of the Summer Moon, shot in New York in 2020, South by Southwest II, shot in Devon, England in 2020, and The Daily News, shot in Santa Clarita, California in 2021 in the same location as the classic film noir photo taken of Crawford for her Pepsi commercial in 1992.
“My idea for The Daily News,” Yarrow says, “was to build a set from the 1950s and shoot at night. This was not just to build contrast and drama, but to legitimize the evening glam look, at which Cindy excels.”
“Cindy is gold dust for her photographers,” David Yarrow says, “She looks as sensational in this shoot in 2021 as she did in 1992.”
And what does Cindy Crawford say about working with David Yarrow Photography?
“If you are going on a shoot with David Yarrow,” Crawford says, “you need to do your homework first. I study his books and photos, so when I am on the shoot, we can speak the same language.”
Speaking the common language of charity
David Yarrow Photography raised $400,000 in a single evening in Wisconsin for the University Hospital. Yarrow and Crawford have raised over $2.7 million for children’s cancer during the first weekend of their exhibition in Chicago.
