Heart of Australia: A Celebration of our Communities

Description

Nick Rains has photographed people and places across Australia for over 35 years, and in that time he's met people from many different walks of life - people living in remote or rural communities, coastal or urban dwellers, Indigenous Australians, battlers or those who are just plain strange. But the people who he's found the most fascinating are the unsung local heroes, those who go to extraordinary lengths in the name of 'community'. Nick says, 'I realised the capacity for Australian communities to put on some kind of "do" was effectively limitless. Sometimes these events are prompted by fundraising for, say, the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Other times it's a common interest in horses or music or Elvis or bacon, or just about anything.' Heart of Australia is a visual celebration of the people who dedicate themselves to a vast array of events that occur on any given weekend around Australia. The book captures the huge sense of fun and spirit that was so evident when Nick was there in person, and is a photography book that highlights the very best of the Australian way of life, in all its forms.

Nick Rains has been a professional photographer for over 36 years, starting in sports photography in Europe back in the 1980s before moving into commercial work in Sydney, Australia, during the 1990s. Since moving to Queensland in 1998 he has concentrated on documentary and travel photography, and has taken photographs all over the world for books, magazines and calendars. Nick is a Leica Ambassador and, in addition to his current work, guides aspiring photographers on tours to different parts of the planet in search of great imagery. In 2001 Nick was awarded the title of Australian Geographic Photographer of the Year, and in 2014 the Australian Instituteof Professional Photography (AIPP) named him Travel Photographer of the Year. Heart of Australia is Nick's fifteenth photography book, and there is no sign of him stopping anytime soon!