Muster And Commander

Nuthin's Cooler Than A Stubby Cooler

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

This is one of my favourite pictures from yesterday afternoon (see my post Ute Tube). Why is the shot a favourite? Because it says so much about the casual Australian lifestyle. A bare, brawny left arm casually thrown over the back of a "ute", or utility vehicle. A plaid all-purpose shirt. And the right hand, with honest farming dust under the fingernails, grasping a can ("stubby", we call 'em) in that wonderful Aussie invention, the stubby cooler - designed to keep the beer as cold as possible. And further along the frame, there is a pair of denim-clad legs thrown over the side of the ute. Doesn't get better than that, does it?


And here's the face that goes with the arms in the first shot. The farmers from Deniliquin ("Deni", in true abbreviated Aussie style) were here in Melbourne yesterday to promote the 2007 Deniliquin World Record Ute Muster, where they need more than 6211 utes to break the existing record.


And here (above) is another symbol of Australian culture - the blue singlet. This woman was sitting near a row of utes and I asked her permission to photograph her from behind. She readily agreed and after I showed her the image on the screen of my Pentax K100D, I told her that I'd be posting it on my blog. She laughed when I told her that people would be talking about her back behind her!