Shangri La

SHANGRI LA
Big Sky, Montana - 2023

There is no ski resort story like Big Sky, Montana. The growth in the whole community is staggering and it is now established as one of the premier ski towns in the world. The proximity of the legendary Yellowstone Club brings elite professional sports stars, Hollywood and seemingly most of the leading business figures of the day. Big Sky is the home of the over achiever and sometimes it makes the Davos economic summit look second tier.

As we continue our ski series in America and Europe, we thought it was time to shoot here and play to the glamour that its huge ski area and its clubs and hotels attract. It is America’s new Shangri La.

It is an oddity of America that so many of the nation’s great ski resorts are in frontier mining towns such as Aspen, Telluride in Colorado or in cowboy country like Big Sky in Montana.

I thought that cowboy hats would combine well with the vintage styling that day and both girls - Holly Graves and Jenna Grimes - did a fantastic job in extremely cold conditions up by the Montage Hotel in Spanish Peaks. We were fortunate that it had snowed the night before which lent some abstract shapes to the background.

The wolf (Tamaskan) seemed an appropriate addition to the set. After all, Yellowstone National Park is on Big Sky’s doorstep, and he is a metaphor for many a man who would have enjoyed that ski trip.
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