LARRIKIN YAKKA Photography by Paul Freeman

It’s double the pleasure this year for fans of photographer Paul Freeman. Hot on the heels of the first book in his new series Larrikin, comes Larrikin Yakka with a focus on strapping men at work and play.

The images come from several different countries – the seedier parts of Bushwick, New York, the olive groves of Puglia, Italy, and the mechanics’ sheds of central Australia. These locations have given Freeman the opportunity to photograph an intensely sexy array of men in gritty work environments. As his fans have come to expect, Freeman always captures them in all their freewheeling, physical glory.

Larrikin Yakka delivers. He’s famous for his portraits of Aussie men in his Bondi and Outback books yet this book strikes out in new directions. The series of images in Italy are especially atmospheric, with the crumbling villas, antique furnishings and orchards. Whatever the settings, his models exude the charm of the Aussie larrikin – sexy and rugged with a sense of fun.

The Larrikin books have crept up in price in Australia to align with the prices internationally – but this series is unique and of the highest quality. The book’s blurb claims, “his collections set a tone of sophistication rarely achieved in books of the male nude”. This isn’t hyperbole. Freeman has finetuned his skills over almost 15 years of photography. It’s gratifying to see him exploring new directions.

MORE: The Bookshop Darlinghurst specialises in gay and lesbian books. Tel: (02) 9331 1103. Email: info@thebookshop.com.au. Web: thebookshop. com.au. Visit: 207 Oxford Street, Sydney.