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gradyharp wrote on 03/23/2010:

Paul Freeman's photographic art grows in stature and sophistication with every new book and OUTBACK CURRAWONG CREEK is an excellent example. His previous tour of the outback of Australia, simply titled OUTBACK, savored the flavor of the wildness of the countryside of Australia, giving the hauntingly beautiful serenity of this land just the right amount of interest with the population of men at work. In this even more impressive volume of both black and white, color and near sepia toned images, Freeman seems to have found the core of his poetic view of a land where 'civilization' has yet to blight.

Currawong Creek is a crumbling, disinherited sheep station in the outback of Australia. There are sturdy but much used barns, houses, and dilapidated sheds that all seem to be seasonal habitats used at sheep shearing time. Into this setting Freeman has placed his models, men so ruggedly masculine that they seem as though they actually are sheepherders, drovers, and cowboys. These are not at all the usual posed models of many other photographic monographs: these men, both in Levis and torn shirts and at times free of clothing altogether, seem wholly involved in the work at hand. But this is where Freeman is unique among artists emphasizing the male model. As ordinary as a work day these men doff their clothes for a swim or a nap in the shorn wool, on hay bales and by bodies of water - men at rest from hard labor. Instead of the shaved and oiled muscle man tropes, the men of Currawong Creek are at times covered with dust and dirt, and far from being shaved these men are naturally hairy! The mood of the book is one of camaraderie of men away from the eyes of society, men at work, at rest, and at play.

Some of the very large pages of this volume hold four photographs, images that seem like casual conversation snapshots, while other pages wax poetic as in the double page spread of a contemporary Narcissus observing his reflection in the water. This collection contains some particularly beautiful portraits where Freeman engages the eye of the model (such as the man on the cover), transmitting unspoken conversations that bring the viewer into the rugged majesty of the atmosphere of the outback. If ever there were a frozen moment in history, a moment when nature and man were in a friendly confrontation without the noise of the future, the city, then this is what Paul Freeman has captured. OUTBACK CURRAWONG CREEK is a tribute to masculinity - raw, rough, working, playing, dreaming, enjoying life fully - and it packs a mighty visual wallop!