The Australian bush is an ancient land of Aboriginal Countries renamed and reshaped by colonisation. In recent years the transition to large-scale mining, the mechanisation of farming, and a population shift to larger regional centres has transformed the environmental and cultural landscape. In this ambitious project, Adam Ferguson observes fading yet iconic events of rural life, shrinking small-towns, Aboriginal connection to Country, pastoralism, the impacts of globalisation and the adversity of climate change. In doing so, he attempts to challenge and position archetypal tropes of Australian identity with the complex realities of contemporary life in the Outback.
Chairs secured from flooding, Iningai Country, Lake Huffer Station, Queensland, 2017.
Contract shearers from Longreach George Smith, 50 and his son Conan Wakefield, 30, Iningai Country, Marchmont Station near Ilfracombe, Queensland, 2017.
A high-based thunderstorm moves across drought-affected land, Kunja Country, Tuen, Queensland, 2018.
Kukatja Pintupi boy Matthew West, hunting trip, Wirrimanu/Balgo, Kukatja Country, Western Australia, 2023.
Sheep rot in a pit, Weilwan Country, Epping Farm, Pilliga, New South Wales, 2018.
Farming couple Kent Morris and Sam Cormack, their children, and Kent’s mother Lainie, Gunggari Country, Kandimulla Property south of Mitchell, Queensland, 2018.
Sam McMahon, ringer with Brett Cattle Company, Ngarinyman and Malngin Country, Waterloo Station, Northern Territory, 2023.
Cattle after a muster, Wardaman Country, Willeroo Station, Northern Territory, 2023.
Fifth generation farmer Jack Slack-Smith, 65, sold 5,000 acres (30% of his land) to survive the drought, Weilwan Country, Epping Farm, Pilliga, New South Wales, 2018.
Dwayne John, off-siding a commercial kangaroo shooter, Adnyamathanha Country, Plumbago Station, South Australia, 2017.
Environmental degradation and the release of dirty water by Water NSW caused the largest ever fish kill on the Baaka/Darling river, Minandichi/Menindee, Barkandji Country, New South Wales, 2023.
Daisy Tjuparntarri Ward, an elder of Warakurna community and Ngaanyatjarra people, ‘Sorry Place’ near Warakurna, Ngaanyatjarra Lands, Western Australia, 2017.
Prison yard, Broken Hill Correctional Centre, Wilyakali Country, New South Wales, 2020.
Harvested almonds, Latje Latje Country, Murray River, Robinvale, Victoria, 2020.
Wendy Clarke, 59, Kokatha Country, Andamooka, South Australia, 2020.
The Fimiston Open Pit gold mine, a KCMG mine colloquially known as the Super Pit, Wangkatha Country, Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, 2017.
Leon ‘Poggy’ Kloock, 59, impersonates Ned Kelly on his 4th generation family farm, Coorabie Farm, Wirangu Country, South Australia, 2018.
Discarded mattresses from a coal mining camp, Barada Barna Country, Moranbah Waste Management Facility, Queensland, 2013.
Paakintji girls, identical twins Bethany and Bridgette Bugmy, 10, Paakintji Country, Wilcannia, New South Wales, 2017.
The annual Newman Burnouts in the Pilbara iron-ore mining town of Newman, Nyiyaparli Country, Western Australia, 2023.
Jannah Sabey, 18, just finished high school in Broken Hill and is preparing to move to Adelaide, Barkandji Country, Copi Hollow, New South Wales, 2017.
Sheep are fed with bought feed during drought, Weilwan Country, Epping Farm, Pilliga, New South Wales, 2018.
Billy Skinner, drover, Koa Country, Winton, Queensland, 2022.
Kooringle farm after bushfire burnt through an hour earlier on Sally’s Flat Road, Wiradjuri Country, Pyramul, New South Wales, 2023.
Farmer Angus Bullen and his stepdaughter Kathleen, Weilwan Country, Dunmore Property, Pilliga, New South Wales, 2018.
Cultural burning near Wirrimanu/Balgo, Kukatja Country, Western Australia, 2023.
Halligan Bay, Kati Thanda/ Lake Eyre, Arabana Country, South Australia, 2023.
Pintupi-Luritja Lutheran Pastor Simon Dixon, Ikuntji/Haast Bluff, Arrernte Country, Northern Territory, 2023.
Faren Kate Flick and Violet Kayt Roker-Mitchell, ringers droving cattle, Koa Country, Winton, Queensland, 2022.
Wild dogs and dingos killed by farmers, Wadjalang Country, Prospect Station, Tambo, Queensland, 2017.
Drag Queen Shelita Buffet, before performing in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert tribute show at the Palace Hotel, Wilyakali Country, Broken Hill, New South Wales, 2017.
Bachelor and Spinster Ball, Wiradjuri Country, The Rock, New South Wales, 2019.
Isla Hughes, a governess from a remote cattle station, New Year’s Day party, Tibooburra Family Hotel, Wongkumara Country, New South Wales, 2017.
Opal field, Antakirinja Matu-Yankunytjatjara Country, Coober Pedy, South Australia, 2017.
Cousin sisters Shauna and Bridget Perdjert, Kardu Thithay Diminin Clan and Murrinhpatha language group, Kardu Yek Diminin Country, Air Force Hill, Wadeye, Northern Territory, 2023.
The annual Come by Chance Christmas Tree party, Weilwan Country, New South Wales, 2018.