Akubra is Australian for Hatby Grenville Turner
Price: $12.99
ISBN-13: 978-0-7407-8505-4
ISBN-10: 0-7407-8505-2
Format: Paperback
Size: 8.27 X 8.27 in.
Page Count: 96 pages
In 1988, photographer Grenville Turner set out on a journey to show the unique connection between the Akubra hat and the Australian people, as well as the beauty and harshness of the lands down under. Akubra Is Australian for Hat (Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, $12.99) revisits and updates his travels with fresh, new imagery and stories of Australia and its people.
Beginning at the Akubra factory and describing how the famous fur felt hats are made, Turner travels across the country, taking pictures of the many people who are devoted to their Akubras. The hat has practical significance as well as cultural: It shields the head and eyes from the elements, and provides a drinking vessel for thirsty animals. Generally, wearers describe feeling naked without their akubras. There are over 100 different styles, depending on the brim size, the “bash” (crease in the brim), and the depth of the hat itself.
This book is a caring tribute to this Australian staple and the people who love it, providing:
• Beautiful, full-color landscape pictures showing the amazingly different Australian climates.
• Pictures and brief descriptions of the people who live and work in their Akubras.
• Historical stories describing the importance of stockmen in Australia’s outback.
With Akubra is Australian for Hat, Grenville Turner shares the Australian experience, starting with a hat, and in the end, the stories and landscapes of his beloved home country.
Grenville Turner has worked behind the camera for more that thirty years and is widely regarded as one of Australia’s foremost photographers. He wears an Akubra Cattleman to protect him from the elements.
“Acclaimed photographer Grenville Turner said his favourite saying about bushmen and their hats was “the bigger the brim, the bigger the station”. Turner’s latest book Akubra Is Australian For Hat tells the stories of Australia’s pastoralists through an innovative look at their hats.” ––Northwest Territory News http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2009/09/01/80641_entertainment.html
“I said, ‘G’day mate, gee that’s a good hat you’ve got there, do you mind if I take a picture?”‘ Turner says, recalling the 1984 occurrence. “He said, ‘Mate I work the horses, not with these things’ and he just strode off and I though, I’ve lost him, I’ve obviously said the wrong thing. “But he turned up five minutes later in all his riding gear looking absolutely fantastic, standing tall and proud and presented so beautifully to camera. “I knew straight away that it was about the people who wore (hats), not how you make hats.” ––The Age http://www.theage.com.au/national/hats-off-to-an-aussie-favourite-20090914-fnqo.html
