Studio Ready is pleased to present Ian by Paul Freeman. The book flows as a visual story, shot beautifully in various environments that boast this charismatic man and his boyish, energetic lifestyle and masculinity. This real-life study is a testament to the craft of photography, capturing a model who effortlessly radiates raw, masculine appeal.

The first part of this captivating journey centers around the 1976 Bedford Van that Ian traveled and lived in, which he had largely re-built himself. It vividly depicts his beachside lifestyle. In the second part, our lens takes you on location to the outback, where we focus on Ian's job as a mechanic and some of his hobbies. This quality large-format, hardbound book features art stock pages that do justice to the stunning visuals within.

I photographed lan on two summer days, a year apart, in between Covid lockdowns in Australia.

The first shoot centered around the 1978 Bedford van that he had largely rebuilt, and the lifestyle that went with travelling and living in it. We hadn't met in person before I flew north from Sydney to his home town in Queensland. I had booked a motel with some character that suited his look so I could do some shots there first, to get him used to being in front of my camera. When lan arrived in the morning, we walked around the corner for breakfast first, at his local surf club. He was more easy-going and cheerful than I had found from our phone calls and when we went back to the motel and began working I soon realised he was a natural in front of the camera. He was uninhibited and intuitive, his rugby frame responding to direction with ease and grace. And he was photogenic, exuding something beyond the purely physical.

After an hour or so we hit the road in his van and headed to a beach down the coast. There had been recent flooding so the dirt access road was muddy and inaccessible to most vehicles. lan manoeuvered the van through the floodwaters and we found a quiet place to park within the bushland that abutted the beach. There was an over-abundance of shoot potential here and not many hours until sunset so, anxious to capture as much of it as possible, I directed and photographed lan pretty frantically. He remained chilled and enthusiastic throughout the long day. I was more than once the cantankerous and impatient prima donna about getting the shot' and had him pose in many a dirty, uncomfortable, wet and cold situation. Shooting portraits of this kind is always both an exhilarating and frustrating process as you direct a model in changing light and environments, searching quickly for moments that resonate, to capture. This day felt like it flowed with them; everything seemed in synch, technically and creatively. 

Days later, when I began editing the shoot, it dawned on me that our collaboration had produced enough photos to fill a book. I've always built my monographs with a variety of subjects contributing loosely to a central narrative but in this case lan's lifestyle appeared to be a strong story in itself, with enough visual array to get me thinking.

Months passed, lockdowns were re-instituted, interstate travel was again banned, but eventually lan and I talked of doing another shoot. By the time we met again he had grown a year older and, whereas in the first shoot he was an injured footballer with an off-season chunkiness, now he was fitter and leaner and sporting a self-styled mullet that he was growing out. (He had told me that his usual practise was to just let his hair grow, and every year or two shave it all off and start over.)

We arranged to do the second shoot at an industrial-scale country property so we were able to focus on other apects of lan's life and his trade as a mechanic. There was, again, plenty to document but I didn't feel the usual pre-shoot pressure, I knew lan was a keen subject and great to work and hang out with, so I didn't have that apprehension that comes from working with someone new, and any new photos would simply enhance his story from our abundant efforts the year before.

lan came to Sydney and we travelled together into the Australian outback, eventually arriving at our destination in the middle of an afternoon. It was hot and sunny when we started shooting and lan was as at home in this environment as in the van by the beach. Once again, we worked quickly, utilizing the workshops and the farm worker's quarters, where we were staying, as well as the farm's vehicles and landscape. We shot til filthy, sweating and exhausted at sunset. The next morning we worked for another hour or so after breakfast, before the long trek home.

My happy dilemma now was having a new body of work as large as the first, complementing the original story and adding a chameleon-like dynamism to lan, the rugged tradesman one moment and a freshly-minted hippie traveller the next. Here was an authentic journeyman.

I knew by now I wanted to attempt a book of lan as a new artististic challenge. It felt like he was the right muse and this was the right time. The body of work I would testify to it, once I culled severely from both shoots. These last few years had been shattering in many ways but everything seemed to be colluding to make this project happen. Two years ago I received what seemed like a junk message in my Instagram inbox. It simply said: "You should shoot my friend."

I nearly deleted it because it included no photo of the 'friend, or further details. I often get random suggestions like this from people wanting me shoot someone they admire and often don't know. For some reason, that day I was amused and replied: 

"Shouldn't you at least send me a photo of your friend!?"

I thought that'd be the end of it. Next day I received a couple of unflattering snap shots of what appeared to be a very handsome man. I asked why the friend hadn't contacted me himself and if he was even keen to be photographed professionally. The response was:

"Yes. He's shy"

I replied skeptically that if his friend was interested, I really should communicate with him directly. Next came through the contact details for his friend, lan.

The rest of the story you know or rather will shortly, in the pages that follow. 

(You can follow lan on Instagram @ian.o.goh)

• Item Weight: 3.37 pounds
• Dimensions: 10.43 x 0.81 x 13.13 inches
• Harcover: 160 pages

I'm used to looking at Paul Freeman's books showcasing a menagerie of images of gorgeously-looking nude male models - a craft he has perfected. So when he released a book putting the spotlight on one model, I didn't know what to expect.

And sometimes, it's good not to have expectations because after reading this visually appealing hardbound material, I was pleasantly bowled over by the photographs brandishing this dazzling male specimen.

Paul Freeman is our modern-day Michelangelo and Ian is one stunning David in all his glory. The book flows as a coherent real-life study, shot beautifully and in a variety of environments which boast this charismatic man and his boyish, energetic lifestyle and masculinity. I think this book is Paul Freeman's best book yet!

Review by: E. Paysan