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Larrikin Yakka
Larrikin Yakka is the second in the Paul Freeman Larrikin series, this time featuring a sensual array of men in gritty and evocative work environments, from the seedier parts of Bushwick New York, to the olive groves and dilapidated villas of Puglia in Southern Italy and out to the red mud and mechanics sheds of central Australia. Having established himself at the pinnacle of his craft, not only as a photographer, but as a visual poet and artist, Freeman's genius is to find and eulogize the spirit of a rugged yet sensitive male beauty in all its' physical glory. From the quality of the compositions and the lighting through to the texture of the locations, his collections set a tone of sophistication rarely achieved in books of the male nude. Freeman grew up in Tasmania, the small island state of Australia, and moved to Sydney in his twenties. A graduate from the university of Tasmania in English literature and history, he moved to Sydney to study and pursue acting before taking up photography at the Australian Centre for Photography His nude portraits of sports stars and actors began appearing in the prestigious Black And White Magazine and in their sister publications, Sport and Blue, and in the magazines' special Olympic book editions The Sydney Dream (2000) and The Athens Dream (2004) He wrote the best-selling biography of Australian footballer Ian Roberts, (Ian Roberts: Finding Out, published by Random House in 1997). His first book of art nude portraits, Bondi Classic, was published to critical acclaim in 2003, and a best-selling series of Bondi books followed. His two Heroics books explored neo classic and post Renaissance male ideals in contemporary contexts. He is probably best known for his more recent five book Outback series which centered on exploring and mythologising the Australian male. Visit paulfreeman.com.au to find out more.
176 pages, Hardcover
Published January 4, 2017
About the author
Paul Freeman
48 books15 followersBest known for his series of photographic monographs on the nude male, Paul Freeman's nude portraits of sports stars, Olympians and actors appeared between 1995 and 2005 in Studio Magazines' '(not only) Black And White', '(not only) Sport' and 'Blue', and in their books The Sydney Dream (2000), 'The Athen's Dream' (2004), and 'Sportbook' (2003)
In 1996 Paul wrote the best-selling biography of footballer Ian Roberts, ('Ian Roberts: Finding Out', Random House 1997).
His first monograph, 'Bondi Classic', was published to critical acclaim in 2003, and was followed by 'Bondi Urban' (2005), 'Bondi Work' (2006) and 'Bondi Road' (2007). This best-selling series, which takes its' name from Sydney's most iconic suburban beach, observes the contemporary young Australian urban male at home, at work and at play.
Equally successful has been Paul's Outback series, which uses the Australian bush and its' changing moods to explore Paul's male aesthetic, and to style and weather his subjects, varying thematic focus in each of 'Outback' ( 2008) ,' Outback Currawong Creek' (2009) , 'Outback Brumby' (2010), and 'Outback Bushmen' (2012).' Outback Dusk' has just been released.
His 2011 and 2013 books 'Heroics' and' Heroics II' are an exploration of the neo-classic nude male referencing sculpture and painting in Western European art, and even surrealist film interpretations. This work comments on attitudes to the naked male in public and art by juxtaposing our collective artistic heritage with contemporary reality and male physiques.
Many of Paul's books are available from Amazon.
Paul has made his mark in fashion and advertising, with international awards, from Cannes Lions to Clios, to his name.
He has a university degree in Arts, and studied photography at the Australian Centre For Photography in Sydney.
The New York Times art critic Robert Hughes' featured Paul's work in his 2000 documentary series Australia: Beyond The Fatal Shore.
Please go to paulfreeman.com.au for more information.
In 1996 Paul wrote the best-selling biography of footballer Ian Roberts, ('Ian Roberts: Finding Out', Random House 1997).
His first monograph, 'Bondi Classic', was published to critical acclaim in 2003, and was followed by 'Bondi Urban' (2005), 'Bondi Work' (2006) and 'Bondi Road' (2007). This best-selling series, which takes its' name from Sydney's most iconic suburban beach, observes the contemporary young Australian urban male at home, at work and at play.
Equally successful has been Paul's Outback series, which uses the Australian bush and its' changing moods to explore Paul's male aesthetic, and to style and weather his subjects, varying thematic focus in each of 'Outback' ( 2008) ,' Outback Currawong Creek' (2009) , 'Outback Brumby' (2010), and 'Outback Bushmen' (2012).' Outback Dusk' has just been released.
His 2011 and 2013 books 'Heroics' and' Heroics II' are an exploration of the neo-classic nude male referencing sculpture and painting in Western European art, and even surrealist film interpretations. This work comments on attitudes to the naked male in public and art by juxtaposing our collective artistic heritage with contemporary reality and male physiques.
Many of Paul's books are available from Amazon.
Paul has made his mark in fashion and advertising, with international awards, from Cannes Lions to Clios, to his name.
He has a university degree in Arts, and studied photography at the Australian Centre For Photography in Sydney.
The New York Times art critic Robert Hughes' featured Paul's work in his 2000 documentary series Australia: Beyond The Fatal Shore.
Please go to paulfreeman.com.au for more information.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
December 17, 2018
Slowly I grew confident about expressing what was intrinsic to me, learned to trust my own instincts and explore those.’
Addendum: LARRKIN YAKKA is actually a separate book - Part 2 of Paul's Larrikn series - and white the imagery is much the same, LARRIKIN YAKKA is more geared toward the men of Australia at work - scruffy, at work, at rest, both images of partially clothed and fully naked buff men. Together both these books make a wholly satisfying journey with he magic of Paul Freeman's superb eye for honesty and the natural beauty of the male figure.
Australian photographer poet Paul Freeman has been creating his immensely satisfying art photography books since 2004. Now he brings a new series of books of magnificently masculine men in a collection he calls Larrikin. ‘Larrikin’ is derived from mid 19th century word lark, describing ‘a mischievous or frolicsome youth.’ In Australia the term is used to refer to a man of courage and self-confidence, a free thinker who denies unnecessary pretense or hypercritical conventions in a likeable and warm-hearted or ‘cheeky’ way.
As Paul states in his poetic, finely scribed introduction to his book, ‘In a world where perfected beauty is valued and flaunted, I think we often find good looking men more alluring when they don’t take themselves too seriously; the sexiness of a man is somehow heightened when his good looks are carried with a certain nonchalance. He conveys a sense of individual strength of character. Similarly, I think a photo of a naked man assumes greater potency when the subject is not flaunting generic or fashionable physicality, but seems happily detached from it.’ ‘The world in general is very censorious when it comes to the male nude. Rapid change and globalisation, from my perspective at least, is often regressive rather than progressive. For all the faults you may perceive of our societies, the liberal democracies, there has never been a safer place to explore our personal freedoms and we should cherish and be prepared to defend them. In some ways I feel as though I’m on the front line of change, being challenged and pushed at every turn.I think it’s more important than ever to hold onto the precious liberal values such as freedom of speech and freedom of expression. I feel personally my work has a political statement attached, a kind of defiance and insistence about the place the male nude should have in mainstream art, but which is continually, and more so today, being denied it. We as humans revere and cherish beauty in all other things. By embracing this art form, we ensure a greater maturation of our civilisation, and a victory for feminism against patriarchal controls in their various guises. We are in danger of falling back into a world in which heterosexual males dominate and command females and their sensuality. This has implications for all of us and the way we live. My work is not just for gay men but for women and for all who appreciate the natural beauty of the human form. I don’t make my work strongly sexual one way of the other but make it personal and at the same time part of a universal story.’
Paul then shares personal history of his sexuality from childhood to present, the son of a Catholic family, hiding his secret. He now joins the men of his images in freedom.
For those many who follow Paul’s work there is a consistency of natural and relaxed intimacy in his photographs, but in this book he makes fine use of both color and black and white subtly shadowed images, rendering his extraordinarily and naturally fit and handsome models in light that plays like gold on skin and allows the contrasts of the natural environment in diverse, largely outdoor and rural locations, on vast farming plains, amongst fertile hills and rocky mountains, and along slow winding rivers and bubbling desert streams to be sculptural enhancements of these men.
The result is a portfolio of sensitivity, joy, solitude, playfulness, and pensive moments. The lack of clothing seems so natural to the setting in which the models are placed, as though rather than being models, these men are part of the rugged beauty that is Australia.
LARRIKIN YAKKA s a stunning achievement – artistically, sensually, and poetically. Bravo to the master!
Addendum: LARRKIN YAKKA is actually a separate book - Part 2 of Paul's Larrikn series - and white the imagery is much the same, LARRIKIN YAKKA is more geared toward the men of Australia at work - scruffy, at work, at rest, both images of partially clothed and fully naked buff men. Together both these books make a wholly satisfying journey with he magic of Paul Freeman's superb eye for honesty and the natural beauty of the male figure.
Australian photographer poet Paul Freeman has been creating his immensely satisfying art photography books since 2004. Now he brings a new series of books of magnificently masculine men in a collection he calls Larrikin. ‘Larrikin’ is derived from mid 19th century word lark, describing ‘a mischievous or frolicsome youth.’ In Australia the term is used to refer to a man of courage and self-confidence, a free thinker who denies unnecessary pretense or hypercritical conventions in a likeable and warm-hearted or ‘cheeky’ way.
As Paul states in his poetic, finely scribed introduction to his book, ‘In a world where perfected beauty is valued and flaunted, I think we often find good looking men more alluring when they don’t take themselves too seriously; the sexiness of a man is somehow heightened when his good looks are carried with a certain nonchalance. He conveys a sense of individual strength of character. Similarly, I think a photo of a naked man assumes greater potency when the subject is not flaunting generic or fashionable physicality, but seems happily detached from it.’ ‘The world in general is very censorious when it comes to the male nude. Rapid change and globalisation, from my perspective at least, is often regressive rather than progressive. For all the faults you may perceive of our societies, the liberal democracies, there has never been a safer place to explore our personal freedoms and we should cherish and be prepared to defend them. In some ways I feel as though I’m on the front line of change, being challenged and pushed at every turn.I think it’s more important than ever to hold onto the precious liberal values such as freedom of speech and freedom of expression. I feel personally my work has a political statement attached, a kind of defiance and insistence about the place the male nude should have in mainstream art, but which is continually, and more so today, being denied it. We as humans revere and cherish beauty in all other things. By embracing this art form, we ensure a greater maturation of our civilisation, and a victory for feminism against patriarchal controls in their various guises. We are in danger of falling back into a world in which heterosexual males dominate and command females and their sensuality. This has implications for all of us and the way we live. My work is not just for gay men but for women and for all who appreciate the natural beauty of the human form. I don’t make my work strongly sexual one way of the other but make it personal and at the same time part of a universal story.’
Paul then shares personal history of his sexuality from childhood to present, the son of a Catholic family, hiding his secret. He now joins the men of his images in freedom.
For those many who follow Paul’s work there is a consistency of natural and relaxed intimacy in his photographs, but in this book he makes fine use of both color and black and white subtly shadowed images, rendering his extraordinarily and naturally fit and handsome models in light that plays like gold on skin and allows the contrasts of the natural environment in diverse, largely outdoor and rural locations, on vast farming plains, amongst fertile hills and rocky mountains, and along slow winding rivers and bubbling desert streams to be sculptural enhancements of these men.
The result is a portfolio of sensitivity, joy, solitude, playfulness, and pensive moments. The lack of clothing seems so natural to the setting in which the models are placed, as though rather than being models, these men are part of the rugged beauty that is Australia.
LARRIKIN YAKKA s a stunning achievement – artistically, sensually, and poetically. Bravo to the master!
Displaying 1 of 1 review