The Naked Farmer - Part 1

 The Naked Farmer

I'm starting a new series today with photographs from social media sites by "The Naked Farmer," a young Australian farmer named Ben Brooksby.

Ben was working on the harvest in 2016 when a friend, Emma Cross, visited the farm to take some harvest pictures.  On a whim, she asked Ben to pose naked in a truck full of lentils (above).  He posted the photo on his personal Instagram page and it got a lot of attention.  That gave him the idea of starting an Instagram page for "The Naked Farmer." 

He started shooting naked photos of other farmers in the Australian state of Victoria, where he lives, and posting them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.  The photo above is called "bad boys," Mansfield, Victoria.

Initially he was just thinking about a fun way to show people the farmers who provided their food.  Above, a clever upside-down image called "Double Trouble," Southern Wimmera, Victoria.

But Ben also had a passion dear to his heart that he decided to use the photos to promote – mental health.  Above, a visiting farmer from the Netherlands in Rupanyup, Victoria.  He's covering himself, so we can't tell if he's really "over size."  None of these photos are full-frontal, because of social media posting rules, but rear views are plentiful.

Having an uncle who committed suicide, and having suffered from panic attacks himself, Ben knew that it's important not to hide mental problems but to talk about them.  He used his Naked Farmer social media photos to get people's attention and then maybe get them talking.  Above, Mount Emu, Snake Valley, Victoria.

All of today's photos were taken in the state of Victoria, but later, Ben started doing trips to photograph naked farmers in other Australian states.  Above, students with surfboards from Marcus Oldham College, an agricultural college in Geelong, Victoria.

Then Ben asked for viewer submissions, and hundreds of naked farmer photos poured in from all over Australia, and even a few from around the world.  Above, "View," Bald Hills, Victoria.  A nice view indeed.

This is Jack's Bar, Wodonga, Victoria.  Australians love their beer.

This one is called "The Man From Snowy River, McMichael's Hut," Tamboritha, Victoria.  The Man From Snowy River is a classic Australian poem by Banjo Paterson, later made into a movie.

We end with this video telling Ben Brooksby's story and what led him to become The Naked Farmer.  I've trimmed it to less than 4 minutes.  I think you'll find it interesting.

I've collected over 300 photos of naked farmers from The Naked Farmer's Twitter and Facebook sites (and that was only half of them, because I didn't collect photos of female farmers, only males).  So, you can expect to see more naked farmers in future posts.