Nature BoyNature Boy is a sequel to Australian photographer Brad Rimmers monograph Silence (2009). Probing at the essence of rural Australia and the emotional impact of the natural landscape upon individual psyches, Rimmer this time adds stories to the compendium. The raw, yet poetic narratives conjure the late adolescent years of a lad wrestling with whether to stay or leave his remote country homeland for the lure of the city and so much more. A coming of age

Stephen Crowfoot

When we look closely at the images

The abundant nature and the not-so-hidden beauty doesn’t mean the very serious issues the town faces don’t exist

He stands and watches

It is this extraordinary diversity of imagery

a time of bankers and big hair

Winogrand’s haphazard streets and stock photos of rodeos

to step outside ourselves and open the door to the inevitability of the unexpected

crumble into the landscape on which they were set or are erased by us

Wild ponies inhabit many of the landscapes and have witnessed what industry did to the Welsh valleys and its people over centuries

The achievement of orchestrating all this new material is remarkable

the large book format does justice to Hurn's photographs