Enduring Hope

Enduring Hope is an ongoing documentary photography series that explores the hope and resilience of primary producers in rural and regional Australia. The men and women who continue through the good years and the bad, for a purpose bigger than themselves.

Selected for the Lürzer's Archive Top 200 Ad Photographers Worldwide 2025/2026.

THE DAIRY FARMER
Chris is a dairy farmer outside Nowra, NSW. He wakes up at 3am most days to milk his cows before the sun comes up, usually finished in time to get his kids to school. Chris took over the family farm from his father Murray. The land is more than just grass and cows. It’s a family legacy, it’s the future for him and Murray’s grandsons. A few years ago a bad batch of feed poisoned 80 of Chris’s dairy cows. Sadly most of them died or needed to be put down. A nightmare situation for any farmer. 

FAMILY LEGACY

Tom was born into a family whose Irish ancestors founded the little country town he lives in 1821. Tom carries the weight of legacy as a birthright. Born into farming, he has carried on the work of his forefathers and worked the land his whole life. Farming isn’t easy and not always rewarding. Through the good years and the bad, Tom has pushed forward and continued. He’s seen his fair share of adversity. Family farm subdivisions, high interest rates and years with little to no rain.

He now faces a different kind of challenge. His son, drawn to the opportunities of the city, has chosen a different path. Though Tom and his wife respect his decision, they can’t help but hope that, in time, he might feel the same pull to the land that has anchored their family for generations.