Project overview

As part of the one-year photography education, there was a 3 month individual project. I loved it, 3 months to pursue an own photo project! The project time was mid January – mid April 2013.

Winter in the Swedish mid North

That’s winter time in Sweden. Brrr.

So I preferred to be somewhere else for my project. That somewhere else was Australia; South Australia to be precise. I’ve lived there and love it. The countryside in particular is fascinating, so I wanted to do something there.

I don’t mind the occasional beer, and the country PUB’s are usually great.

Now that was a good theme for a project wasn’t it? Zing around the South Australian country side, have a few beers and a chat with the barmen and take some photos?

On a serious note, I’ve always been fascinated by the settlement of rural Australia. Without knowing much about it. What I do know though, is that once there were people in the area, a publican set up shop.

The ‘Transcontinental’ in Quorn, South Australia

I didn’t know much about the early history of the PUB’s, but intended to spend some days in Adelaide state library to catch up on this. My basic understanding was that the PUB originally served as a social venue for the men and I’m sure it still does. However, times are changing. The countryside looses people as urbanization is a continuous process, not only in Australia but all over the world. Drink-drive laws makes it more difficult to nip over for a few pints. Television, video and, more recently, broad band internet changes the way people interact. How does the country PUB hold up in the modern world? What role does it play for social interaction? What would happen to a small community if it closes down?

Australia is a big place and my project was but 3 months out of which I planned to spend 2 1/2 in Australia. So I needed to have a realistic scope. The project goal was to investigate the role of the country PUB for the local community. I had never travelled west of Port Augusta. So the area I wanted to visit was Eyre Peninsula. Now, Eyre peninsula is not a small place and I did not foresee that I could cover the whole peninsula. Initially I thought that a realistic scope was to visit 10 – 12 PUB’s.