Easy rider

Taking the bull by the horns

Featured in

Buy $18.50 - $27.99
  • Published 20231107
  • ISBN: 978-1-922212-89-4
  • Extent: 208pp
  • Paperback, ePub, PDF, Kindle compatible

For photographer Elise Derwin, the camera is a form of connection. She’s captured everything from nudist nomads and body builders to the devastating Lismore floods of 2022 and life during lockdown, driven by the desire to explore other people’s worlds through imagery. One world she keeps returning to is that of the Professional Bull Riders circuit, where sporting skill meets spectacle in an adrenaline-fuelled battle of man versus beast. Derwin’s images, which range from action shots to behind-the-scenes stills, convey the complexity of a subculture that’s as mythologised as it is maligned.

CARODY CULVER: You specialise in documentary and editorial photography – what draws you to seek out particular people, places or stories?

Already a subscriber? Sign in here

If you are an educator or student wishing to access content for study purposes please contact us at griffithreview@griffith.edu.au

Share article

Tweet
Share
Share
Pin
0 Shares

Subscribe to great writing

Access starts at just $6 per month. Print and digital options to suit every budget!

Learn more

About the author

Elise Derwin

Elise Derwin is an award-winning photographer based in Lismore, New South Wales, who specialises in documentary and editorial photography. She has also worked across...

More from this edition

Help wanted

Poetry The opening said no training required; the slaughterer’s tasks are two: stun and slaughter.  With a third parenthetical:  Remove the organs  and the waste  as needed. Heifers all  have name tags here:...

Into the void

Non-fictionI think with a little fear, as I often do, of the many other (and much larger) creatures whose natural territory this is, and scan the surrounding water for any dark, fast-moving shadows. But soon I relax and settle into the rhythm of my freestyle stroke. Breathe. Pull. Pull. Pull. Breathe. Pull. Pull. Pull. Breathe.

Narratives of the natural world

In ConversationAll kinds of interpretation are a form of fiction. These are fictions that we need in order to connect with the larger environment. When our current thinking has failed to make us think of ways to connect with the environment, art may be the only way we can have access to new ways to think about where we are in relation to the environment. 

Stay up to date with the latest, news, articles and special offers from Griffith Review.