Håkan Ludwigson - Balls and Bulldust

Balls and Bulldust explores life and work among the cattlemen of the Northern Territory in Australia. This is not another cowboy story, but rather one about men and women working intensely hard while seeking some kind of solitude and sense of space in the midst of harsh conditions. For some, life in Australia’s outback is a life-long routine. The young are attracted by its romanticism, but are often shattered by its hardships: days are blistering hot, nights are cold; people sleep on ‟swags” on the ground for weeks; the food is drab; red dust is ever-present; and the men are bound to saddles twelve hours a day, mustering herds of cattle, branding and castrating young bulls. Ludwigson spent three months with these fearless cattlemen early in his career, and returned to his native Sweden with a comprehensive body of work that in time became Balls and Bulldust.

They come here for the cowboy romance, but after months in the heat and dust they give up. Some might stay for a couple of seasons.
A Northern Territory station manager


Biography

Håkan Ludwigson was born on the Swedish west coast in the small town of Vanersborg where he began his career as a press photographer at the local newspaper in 1965. He later made a name for himself through magazine work for European publications and advertising assignments alongside personal projects. Ludwigson was a contract photographer for Conde Nast Traveler for over 25 years and is seen as one of the most versatile photographic artists at the magazine with a personal vision that has earned him a worldwide following.