Dimensions
238 x 245 x 20mm
Between 1976 and 2000, Andrew Chapman photographed rural life around Australia, which culminated in an exhibition, 'Click', in 2000. He was subsequently approached by 'Shear Outback', the Shearers Hall of Fame at Hay, to photograph shearing in the remote parts of western NSW. The resulting exhibition, 'The Shearers', is on the fifth leg of a tour of Australia.
The images have been shot in outback NSW, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia, semi-arid areas that have always been the backbone of Australia's once-thriving wool industry. Falling world prices for wool, the global move to synthetics and a nine-year drought have seen the national flock halved, as farmers struggle to make ends meet. Most of The Shearers has been shot in dry and dusty conditions in the back blocks of Australia, areas that many Australians are not familiar with. It is in the faces of the men and women who inhabit the sheds that you can see the stains of a hard working life. The creases, the eyes and a look of weariness compliment the remoteness of the big sheds to a tee.
The photographs are informative and their honesty provides a real glimpse of what life in remote Australia is about.
