Love faces unique challenges in rural Australia - from the harsh climate that batters the landscape to vast distances and patchy internet that keeps its inhabitants isolated. Despite this, it thrives: between young and old couples; mothers and children; men and the land they all live on. This powerful emotion is the subject of a book from acclaimed photographer Pip Williams. Drawn from her decade-long career, In Love, Out Bush features portraits and interviews with more than 100 rural and regional Australians that give intimate insight into who and what they care about. For Casey Zell, from Wee Waa in New South Wales, it’s keeping her husband’s memory alive after he died in a farm accident. “The two most important people in my life now are my children,” she says. “I always tell Willow, even though we can’t see Dad, he’s still with us. And she says ‘Oh, he’s our angel’.” Condamine grazier Bryce Moore finds connection in the land that calms and challenges him. “I spent my whole apprenticeship dreaming of being back on the land,” he says. “And the day I got my certificate, in the other hand I had a resignation letter.” Writer Phoebe Hartley spent months interviewing Pip’s subjects, selecting short but incisive quotations that reveal bonds defined by trust, practicality, and working towards a common goal - while hinting at the tests they face.
