Happy Hour

David Yarrow:

"Despite the “Happy Hour”, everyone in this photograph looks fairly short of happiness. This was my instruction, wanting to reinforce the sense of a foreign land, which Marfa is to most of us.

The Lost Horse Saloon Bar in the town is well known, because the legendary Anthony Bourdain filmed here during his “Parts Unknown” series. The place has a both physical and metaphorical depth.The owner, Tye Mitchell often brings his horse to the bar, which goes with the territory.

We have a few well-used tactics when shooting in American bars. Firstly, we tend to have an open bar and secondly, we ask anyone that is not right for the picture to sit behind the camera with their drink in hand. This picture was taken around 11pm and the bar bill was already in excess of $2,000. Asking the crowd politely to remain compliant was going to be increasingly challenging, which is where Ty came in handy - he bosses his bar with some authority".