This somewhat dystopian image was not preconceived and came together
spontaneously on the day of our shoot in the Namibian desert. The camera
angle allows the viewer to explore inside our bar and the picture is
all the better for that. It is a proper desert bar, two hours from
anywhere of note. I remember once looking at a book featuring telephone
kiosks in unusual places around the world. It was a nice idea and there
were some eye-catching visual contrasts in the collection. But telephone
kiosks do not tend to play host to people of disposable moral fibre,
whereas pool lounges largely do and that is why a pool table is such a
good prop; it smacks of the possibility of trouble. I think if there was
a book of pool table images playing to the lore of a sketchy saloon,
this photograph would stand a good chance of being front cover. Who
could possibly refuse an invitation for a drink and a game of pool at
this bar? It has everything you need, including that vague hint of vice.
Cara Delevingne is so much more than just a supermodel. She is a
generational talent and a force of nature. In 2024 she played Sally
Bowles in Cabaret for a good 10 weeks in the West End. One critic said
she played the role as well as Liza Minnelli in the 1971 movie of the
same name. And so it was an honour to have her along to The Desert
Saloon to shoot some pool and check out the local wildlife. This whole
project was only feasible through our partnership with Rudi and Marlice
Van Vuuren and the lauded Naankuse Sanctuary in Namibia.