'You gotta go deep, way on back. Cross a few creeks and a couple little shacks. You gotta get lost, way on out. Crickets and frogs. Yeah you’re gettin’ close now and you kick it into four wheel drive when you run out of road.'
Rascal Flatts
Growing up in a city, the country was somewhere I went about three times a year. My family usually dragged us in the spring for strawberry picking, the fall for apples and once during the summer to visit the farm of a great aunt and uncle. At the time it was a life I enjoyed visiting, but never saw myself acting living in, now of course I do. A job brought me to the country about ten years ago and now I am not sure I could ever again live within a city.
Now it is the city that I visit, way more than three times a year mind you, usually at least once a week. When I was in the city this past weekend, a friend asked me if the leaves had begun to change. There are of course trees within the city, but the visual masterpiece that is autumn is not really able to be aspirated until you're able to look past the tall buildings and malls to open spaces where the reds, oranges and yellows are all your eyes can see.
Another perk of the country of course are the country boys. Old stereotypes about country boys being hicks has not been my experience, although they may wear overalls and cowboy hats, with the incredible changes in technology, even farm boys now have to be highly educated to keep up with all changes to keep their farms current and profitable. One thing however that hasn't changed are the bodies, fit and hard from all the work, but rarely model thin with beef and apple pie regular diet staples.
It was these country boys who captivated London based photographer Suntown Photography. These back road travellers were focus for his 2001 book, Country Shoots and twelve years later, Suntown is revisiting the farm for a follow-up! The book, which Suntown is hoping will be ready by Christmas, will include approximately 30 different guys, many of whom shot exclusively for the new book and have not posed for anyone else before. One of the barn dwelling hunks that caught my eye was Max, a Midlands Estate Agent and party boy who slid off his overalls ad kicked off his jeans simply for a bit of fun. Now that's sounds like something a country boy would do!
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