Dallas-raised photographer Gray Malin caught the art world’s attention with his now iconic Prada Marfa series. He’s since gone on to shoot around the globe, from the slopes of St. Moritz to the deserts of Namibia. Despite his globetrotting, he still finds plenty to capture his imagination right at home. Here, he shares with All Roads North some of his favorite images from his travels throughout the United States:

Central Park, New York City

GM: Like with all of my aerial shots, I flew high above the city in a doorless helicopter to capture Manhattan from above. Central Park is exquisite on foot but being in a helicopter and getting the full scope of how much land it spans and how much greenery is in the middle of one of the most bustling cities in the world is unforgettable.  

Coral Casino Beach and Cabana Club, Santa Barbara

The Coral Casino Beach and Cabana Club is such a glamorous, exclusive place tucked away within the Four Seasons Resort the Biltmore Santa Barbara. It has such a rich history and upon visiting it for the first time, I was immediately transported to a different time, convinced I needed to create a series that both paid tribute to a vintage and extremely luxurious period of the club’s history as well as put a modern spin on the project. For this image,  I used vintage costumes, evoking a feeling of the “Golden Age,” and played with elements like the umbrellas, stripes and colors to create an effortlessly relaxed yet aesthetically structured image. 

East Hampton, NY

Shooting every location is thrilling, but from the beginning I’ve been drawn to shooting beach aerials. The vantage point is unlike any other. I love seeing the patterns and colors below, how the coastal terrain looks up against the water and the shapes that umbrellas and structures become while looking at them from above. This image perfectly sums up the Hamptons: laid back yet chic. 

Hole 10, Pebble Beach

The success of my aerial images from my Pebble Beach and Big Sur series was such a great surprise.  I wanted to shoot these images for a while, but logistics were very hard to work out. Finally, last year, my team and I coordinated this shoot and I could not be more pleased with the results. I think this image, especially, captures the entire feel and incredible scenery of Pebble Beach, with the greenery of famous golf courses right up against the beautiful cliffs and rocky shores in this area. These images are perfect and nostalgic for any golf lover who has visited or hopes to visit this part of the California coast. 

Poolside at La Follia, Palm Beach

I shot this image at a private residence in Palm Beach that is an unbelievable property unlike any I have ever experienced before.  For this image, I wanted to celebrate the glamour of the property as well as create a vintage moment that makes the viewer feel like they are experiencing this day at this pool as well. This image, in many ways, was an homage to the famous Slim Aarons photo “Poolside Glamour ” which depicts two women in glorious 1960’s attire enjoying their cocktails by the pool. 

Rainbow Cowboy Hats, Marfa

Marfa is a very unique place. It’s located in the middle of nowhere Texas, and the Prada installation by Elmgreen and Dragset creates a very whimsical feel, especially with the background of this empty desert. Growing up in Dallas, I knew about the installation and about the tiny but prosperous art community in Marfa. The first time I visited this installation I was immediately inspired and I knew I needed to create something just as whimsical to pay tribute to it. The series was based off of the idea of the Prada installation being an actual functioning Prada store. I imagined who would shop at this store. Would their selection of merchandise be more geared to cowboys? 

Two Cowboys, Marfa

This shot was actually not planned. It was one of those in-the-moment images that ended up being a favorite of mine. We were setting up for a day of shooting and two local cowboys came to bring a mule for the project. It was sunrise and I noticed how incredible these two individuals in traditional Western garb looked against the layered sky and Prada building in the background. I said, “don’t move,” and got a few shots with this composition. I think so many people resonate with this image as it is a juxtaposition of high fashion with a desert environment and unexpected subjects, allowing the image to feel whimsical and evoke humor.  

Beverly Hills Hotel, CA

I’ve lived in Los Angeles for over ten years, yet I am still so giddy every time I visit The Beverly Hills Hotel. The property’s history and legendary guests really made my project at this property extremely special. The red-carpet entry represents all things that the Beverly Hills Hotel is associated with —celebrities and high-profile guests that have steadily visited since the hotel’s opening, high-end amenities and service, and an experience unlike any other. This series was focused on reimagining the hotel in a vintage framework, and this image evokes the feeling of when you’ve just arrived at an incredible destination, knowing you are about to spend your day relaxing by the pool.

You’re Always Welcome at The Parker, Palm Springs

Many of the images from this series, Gray Malin at the Parker, are actually in my children’s book Be Our Guest! My entire vision for this series was creating a world where the exotic animals were guests and employees of The Parker hotel, giving the images a fun and playful vibe which lend themselves to imagining a whole story surrounding them. This shot is at the entrance of the hotel and is a perfect combination of colorful props, beautiful design and, of course, the marvelous elephant. We worked with experienced animal trainers for this shoot, so this took some of the pressure off of working with the animals, however it was still challenging and took a lot of patience to get this shot.

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On the trip in general…

I am probably the person least likely to use a travel service for planning a vacation but on this trip I discovered I may actually be the one who needs it most! I have spent hours scouring tourism websites, Yelp, and the like when planning past vacations looking for the best activities, trusted guides, and the most unique meals. The best part of this trip was the detailed suggestions on the journey guide for activities, places to eat, etc. I did not have to debate with hubby even ONCE about our itinerary! This could literally save a marriage. But we also weren’t trapped into doing anything we weren’t interested in or that we couldn’t fit in timewise. I LOVED driving through Texas. Those wide open spaces and sun faded landscapes were heaven for me! The itinerary was just perfectly scaled down enough to keep decision making simple but still give us options. I loved that each place to stay you chose was unique from the others and the mixture of nature, culture, art and shopping was just perfect!

On the Gage Hotel in Marathon…

The Gage Hotel is the perfect embodiment of what anyone who is new to Texas imagines Texas will look like, only better! All that country-western, high desert, cowboy ruggedness refined to a level of sophistication and comfort seen in the best hotels. It was unexpected and the most comfortable of all the hotels!

On hiking in Big Bend…

Wow wow wow! Coming off a long lazy winter, we probably tried to pack in more hiking than we should have, but we were seduced by all those rock formations! We hiked the Hot Springs trail and then soaked in the hot spring itself, as well as the Rio Grande River. On our full day we hiked The Mount Emory Trail, which started out as a longer hike to the south rim but we couldn’t resist attempting that peak when we got to the junction and changed plans midway. On the last day we tackled The Grapevine Hills Trail and the Tuff Canyon Floor Trail (we planned on going to Santa Elena Canyon but after learning about tuffaceous rock from our river guide I could not resist an up close and personal!). Each and every one of these trails offered a different landscape to explore. We were split half and half about our desire to see everything and our desire to avoid one of the rare bears or lions in the basin. We did not see any bears or lions but we did see snakes, lizards, Mexican Jays, road runners, javelina, deer, jack rabbits and a desert fox!

On Chisos Mountain Lodge…

An American road trip classic! You could easily imagine old Chevy station wagons loaded up with mom, dad and the kids! I doubt the lodge has changed much in forty years which makes it a nostalgic classic.  As a National Park, amenities were expected to be minimal, but we were pleasantly surprised by the mini-fridge and microwave in our room – when we stay there again (because we LOVED the park) I will definitely be a bit more prepared to mix up meals a bit with foods I bring in from a local grocery.

On the Texan night sky and the Marfa Lights…

One of the things I had on my list to see while in Texas were the stars! I had been told Big Bend was the best place to see stars and being a Chicagoan, I have gotten so used to seeing just a few in the sky due to all the light pollution, that I really wanted to see a million stars twinkling! Of course I was completely thwarted by the full moon! On the night we went to the Marfa lights viewing area, before the moon rose I was able to see more stars than I have ever seen in my life. So even if the Marfa lights are no-shows or underwhelming, the stars will take your breath away! The Marfa lights were honestly not what I expected. If some locals hadn’t been there pointing out the lights to their guests we would have dismissed what we saw completely, assuming they were car or airplane lights. So we saw a whole ton of lights but they were underwhelming. I’m honestly still not even sure if what I saw was what I was supposed to see? LOL!

On the ghost town of Terlingua…

We were so close after our kayaking trip we decided to check Terlingua out. It’s an interesting little town that was once a ghost town and is now becoming a quirky artistic spot much like Marfa. It’s small and there isn’t much going on yet, but definitely one to watch and we heard dinner at the Starlight Theater is good. The trading post is full of art and crafts from Big Bend and Mexico. My favorite part was the cemetery; many offerings remained from Dia de los Muertos celebration this past fall, some touching, some humorous.

On the weirdness of Marfa…

Marfa is a unique town! On the one hand you have these great little fancy boutiques stocked with beautiful artisan goods, and on the other hand you have these crazy little places that are busted up and falling apart. My artistic soul loves the dichotomy! I sell vintage and antiques and I have an appreciation for old weathered things that not everyone shares. We met quite a few people out and about in Marfa, from our first night sharing a table at Stellina with a mother daughter vacationing together, to our very last stop at New Star Grocery Art Museum with just 30 minutes of time left before heading home. We met wonderful people! Some were weirder than others (oh we have some stories!) but vacations are not for homogenous experiences. Weird is great as far as we are concerned. 

On El Cosmico, Marfa…

El Cosmico is just super cool! We weren’t sure what to expect in terms of amenities in the RV but it was fully stocked and so comfortable. The bed was way better than we anticipated, much more hotel and less camp, and we were very grateful for that. The sunrise was beautiful each day and I had a blast taking a late night bath under the stars on the deck.

On the Chinati Foundation…

This was a very unique experience for the hubby and me. However, I’d love to see the Chinati Foundation restructure the tour because, as awesome as it was to be able to see some of these works and though the intention is publicly accessible art, you just don’t get nearly enough time to experience the pieces. Michael was so so enraptured with Donald Judd’s 100 untitled works and really wanted to spend more time walking in that building but we had to hurry to see Dan Flavin’s light installations in the time allotted. On a positive note, Michael found a new appreciation for modern art that I think really surprised him! This is a place that one could return to multiple times and have a different experience of the art each and every time.

All images credited to Tiffany Behrens

To start planning your own tailor-made road trip to Texas please get in touch

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Somewhere in the high desert of the Trans Pecos in far West Texas you’ll find Marfa

There are some obvious pleasures to be had in Marfa, whiling away a few hours drinking bourbon cocktails in the bar of the Paisano Hotel with its laid back frontier charm, or eating some of the best of contemporary American cuisine in Cochineal restaurant for example. But for the rest, some effort is required. We discovered this on our first night in the town when it came to the sticky problem of trying to get some dinner. To be fair, it was New Year’s Eve and to be fair, a rare ice storm had rolled in from the East and caused the whole desert for miles around to freeze over, each cactus and creosote bush now crusted in white ice crystals. The Paisano was full, Cochineal was full, Maiya’s was full. Instead of worrying about it, we put on every layer of clothing we had (it was an almost unheard of minus seven degrees) and headed to the aptly named Lost Horse Saloon at the edge of town.

The gas station in Marfa

It was everything I wanted from a Texan bar: dusty broken down piano, longhorn cattle skulls on the wall, a mysterious looking cowboy owner with an eye patch known as Ty. We joined the party out back around the bonfire where a friendly man called Kent explained to me the lay of the land in Marfa: there were locals such as him who came to this bar and there were the hipsters, or the PIBs – People In Black as they are wryly called by Marfa inhabitants, the pilgrims from the LA and New York art scenes who come down to see the Donald Judd installations – who went to Cochineal and El Cosmico, the ultra-cool trailer park and campsite across town. But far from hating one another, the two were more or less settled in relationship of begrudging respect and appreciation. Without places like El Cosmico the town would have just blown away, he told me, and of course you needed the locals for authenticity’s sake, at which point Kent leaned in and whispered to me that there were conflicting reports about which eye Ty wore his patch on.

The Presidio Courthouse in Marfa

As we chatted to the mixture of locals and PIBs around the bonfire we got wind that at 8.30pm the cheese parlour was going to open. For how long, nobody knew. We decided that it wasn’t worth risking and headed quickly back towards town. What turned out to be one of the most memorable “restaurants” I have ever been to, also had one of the best names: Museum of Electronic Wonders and Late Night Grilled Cheese Parlour. Inside, the tiny dark room was full of television sets, radios and hi-fis of the variety that were once considered futuristic with round brightly coloured plastic casings, on stalks, etc. but which look faintly ridiculous to us now. Behind a counter sat a baffled looking man, an unlikely chef, who nevertheless took our order for three cheese toasties. We got there just in time – in the next ten minutes half the town it seemed, poured into the tiny room.

Rush hour at the Museum of Electronic Wonders and Late Night Grilled Cheese

So began our evening that took us next to a concert of proper old time Texan swing at Padres Bar with the locals, then onto El Cosmico for a disco with the PIBs, and finally ended up, after whispers started to circulate the dance floor about an after party, in the town laundrette where everyone converged with bottles of bourbon for a proper old-fashioned rave amongst (and on) the washing machines and dryers.

Jimmy Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock fill Padres on New Years Eve

The next morning, hungover, we needed food, badly.  This time we were pointed by the staff at the Thunderbird Motel where we were staying, in the direction of Marfa Burritos. Which turned out to be a woman called Rita serving burritos in her living room. I’d be lying if I said it was the best burrito I’ve ever had, but it was certainly the most welcomed.  And so it went: over the next few days we were rescued by a variety of amazingly named eateries – Buns and Roses, Boyz to Men Tacos, Food Shark, Coffee Toast Magic – which seemed to have an incomprehensible rhythm of opening times but were miraculously pointed out to us at the last minute. And of course, by now we were savvy enough to have booked into the Paisano, Cochineal and Mayas for our evenings. During our days we ferreted out Marfa’s art shops, bookstores and galleries. I was sad that the weather never let up enough for us to go and see the legendary Marfa Lights – mysterious balls of coloured lights that hover over the desert out on Route 67.

One of the six buildings at the Chinati Foundation that house Dan Flavin’s work

On our last day, in the pouring rain, we went to the Chinati Foundation to see the Donald Judd installations. This was the real reason we were here of course, the reason anyone goes to Marfa. I have to confess I had never heard of Donald Judd before I went to Marfa and had consequently little expectations. I knew he was considered by many to be a minimalist artist – not a type of art I have found much in which to love – and that he believed that the works of art and the space in which they are exhibited should in harmony, which sounded sensible enough. Judd moved to the town in the 1972 and installed 100 aluminium boxes of the same dimensions (41” x 51” x 72”) in huge barns with glass walls in what was a military base on the outside of town. At first, when I entered the enormous space, I felt disappointed. But as I began to walk through the rows of boxes, they started to weave their magic upon me.

One of 15 untitled works in concrete by Donald Judd

Each box was different, with panels missing or carved up inside by another sheet of metal so that the silver surfaces reflecting the light from the windows were broken up by strips and shapes of darkness where there was nothing there.  In them, you could see the dark grey sky, the pale grasses of the field outside and the dark silhouettes of our own bodies walking past. On another day the boxes might have been set ablaze by a setting sun, but for better or worse, our day was all pewter and mercury liquidly reflected in those planes. In a gallery in New York, the boxes might not have done it for me, but in this corner of West Texas, the ambition of Judd’s vision was clear and I found it impossible not to feel moved. It was Judd’s work in the end that really sealed my impression of Marfa as a mysterious and extraordinary place, one which I will never forget.

Combining a visit to Marfa with a trip to Big Bend National Park makes for a great mix of art, the great outdoors and good ‘ol adventure. Get in touch to start planning your own West Texan road trip.

This article was written for All Roads North by Laura Kaye, author and freelance producer at the BBC 

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