Paul Freeman

Having established himself at the pinnacle of his craft, not only as a photographer, but as a visual poet and artist, Paul Freeman’s gift is to capture both the physicality and the spirit of a rugged yet sensitive male beauty in all its glory. From the compositions and lighting through to the harnessing of locations, his collections set a tone of sophistication rarely achieved in books of the male nude. His nude portraits of sports stars and actors began appearing in Australia’s internationally prestigious Black And White Magazine and its sister publications, Sport and Blue, and in the magazines’ special Olympic 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). Freeman’s first book of art nude portraits, Bondi Classic, was published to critical acclaim in 2003, and a best-selling series of Bondi-themed books followed. (Bondi is a beach suburb in Sydney.) His two Heroics books explored neo‑classic and post-Renaissance male ideals within contemporary contexts. He is probably best known for his five Outback books, 2009-2015, sensualising the Australian male of folklore. In his popular Larrikin series, 2016-2020, he molds this aesthetic of the romanticised, rugged and folkloric man, often outside of Australia, reveling more in the playful aspects of this archetype. Freeman grew up in Tasmania, the small island state of Australia, and moved to Sydney after graduation from the University. In Sydney he studied and pursued acting and held various jobs, before taking up photography at the Australian Centre for Photography. Visit paulfreeman.com.au to find out more.