The word backwoods is probably more familiar to Americans, referring to a remote or culturally isolated area far from the city. For me it evokes another place the working-class men I like to eulogize, might be found. It also neatly encapsulates the book's theme, tying together the variety of locations I've used. The lush, verdant hills of upstate New York--featured in Backwoods--were an exciting new landscape for me to explore. I had the opportunity to shoot there over the course of a week last summer, thanks to a generous patron who opened their estate to me and several models.

Whether in these dense forests and their rough-hewn stone and timbered clearings, the dusty rural terrain and rivers of Australia's outback, or in the shanty timber cabins of the desolate American West, the backwoodsman of these rugged landscapes are self-reliant, a bit rough-hewn, shaped by and happily immersed in the environment they inhabit.