Never in the history of rural Australia has a documentation of grass roots agriculture been accomplished like it has in The Grower series. Not only does it depict a detailed and fascinating insight spanning several industries, it captivates your heart and soul, specifically by the thrill of consistent mind altering images and text. Never have I been more gripped, reading such accomplished books in my lifetime.

The Grower – the Roots of Australia, and The Grower – The heartbeat of Australia.

I love Al’s passion for the agriculture, rural lifestyle and the untold stories of the farmer, which shines strongly in these 2 books,

These books are fantastic, every household should have a copy,

Who ever reads these books will admire Alice’s dedication to uncover so many aspects of Australian agriculture, which has taken her Australia wide, taking spectacular photographs to share with us.

It was great to meet you Alice when you came to our family farm, Thank you so much for sharing your travels around Australia with us all.

I so much believe in your positive philosophy and agree with everything you say. You are so right.

We shall get behind the book and give it the exposure it deserves, particularly for Father’s Day. We already have them in three locations around the store.

If my staff can do a half decent display, we’ll send you a photo.

You know, after 33 years in the book trade and having worked for Dymocks, Angus & Robertson, Leading Edge Books and owning this Collins store for 21 years, I have a general rule that I never buy anything FIRM SALE because I just don’t need too. However, I’m so glad I made an exception in the  case of your books. They have proven to be a great success with sales of The Drover now standing at 48 copies and The Driver at 32 copies. This is quite considerable!  I think you are GOLD and your books are GEMS.

Congratulations on the success of your books.

“Wow!! My copy of “The Grower” arrived today and the first thing I noticed even before I opened the box was the weight!!  

The big, glossy photos and stories from all around rural Australia had me captivated.

Congratulations Al for producing such a comprehensive collection of stunning images and for shining a light on our hard-working farmers.
These books provides a wonderful insight into all aspects of Australian Agriculture and looks beautiful on the coffee table- Highly recommend”

Just wanted to say a big thank you for our in store book signing last Saturday, we had a fantastic morning with sales and my customers loved meeting and chatting with you.

How nice to see a local guy bring his much loved copy of The Driver in to be signed by you and then purchase both your new books!

As we had great sales with both The Drover and The Driver books I figured The Grower books would have to be a hit, and with Fathers Day and Christmas coming these will sell well for the next few months.

The timing was perfect with drought relief fundraising currently in overdrive.

It was interesting that the sales were to guys purchasing for themselves, apart from magazines and lotto, guys don’t spend much in my store.

$99 sale in a newsagency is amazing, but when a customer purchases 2 or 3 of your books together you know price isn’t the only factor, they love the product so they buy it!

I met Al over twelve months ago when she came to Summer Land Camel Farm looking to put an article together on camels to go in her new run of books. Al was extremely professional in how she put the photo’s together and collected the information about what we were doing. She had a massive task ahead to get all around Australia at this time to put the remainder of the information together for these latest books. What a job she has done, extremely self driven and a fantastic group of memories portrayed of the Australian outback, it’s people and suppliers. I did some work overseas some years ago and spent endless hours looking for books to use as gifts for various dignitaries that portrayed the real heart and soul of Australia, I wish these were around then. All the best to you Al and I watch on with great admiration of what you have achieved so far.

Paul Martin, Summer Land Camels

“We were lucky enough to have Al visit us last December to take pictures for her upcoming book, The Grower. We have now received our books, and they are stunning! So many beautiful photos from such a wide variety of Australian agriculture. A uniquely Australian book and keepsake – we have bought one each for our 2 daughters and one for my Dad for Christmas”

Andrew & Megan Mosely

This is an amazing body of work that is galvanising the agricultural industry to stand up, be proud and get on with the challenges of securing our future for generations to come. I am astounded how Alice has connected the microsom of farm life to the macro economics and food supply of our whole country, and in the process bridged the city/ country divide in ways that have not been done before. These books capture the nostalgia of agriculture and transport today as moment in time, but painted in the context of our future and what needs to be done. They give farmers a voice and inspire them to continue their great work. If you want to really to make an impact with your agribusiness clients, then give them a copy of these books. They will never forget it.

Alice has created a masterpiece of client engagement and appreciation with her two new books as The Grower Series. I have been able to share these works of art with many folks in the USA and they have been taken back with the magnitude and detail provided from a camera lens. Australia has always been a place of allure and mystique for many American citizens, so these books really help illustrate the industry’s importance to a much wider audience than just within the Australian borders. Anything to create more valuable insight for farmers in Australia is a must to share. Our clients have being deeply moved by these gifts and this has strengthened the relationships we have with them in ways we have not seen before. This new series of books was certainly a compliment to The Drover and The Driver series that we first gave clients a year ago. They continue to demand these books so I believe The Grower Series takes the detail of Australian Agriculture to another level, which is very exciting!

“The Grower series is simply inspirational. I have never seen Australian farmers and our agricultural industry showcased so beautifully. Alice has done something historic here: she has managed to capture the nostalgia, the rawness and the heart of our farmers from every part of Australia, with pictures that are captivating and stories that make you smile.

But even more importantly, she has given farmers a voice. She has found a way to acknowledge how vital they are in feeding our nation, and in doing so actually found a way to bridge the city/ country divide by showing how connected we all are to agriculture. These books reminded me how much I love the land and It made me even more proud to be part of farming. Thank you for this monumental body of work.”

I was very excited to hear that Al had released another series of books. The Driver and The Drover were wonderful.

The Grower arrived and I placed it on a table waiting for time to have a good read. I stopped at it yesterday and thought “I’ll just have a peek” 65 pages and 20 odd minutes later I realised I was going to be late for a meeting. The pictures and the stories are fantastic. So much information about an industry most of us would take for granted – we just go to the shop and buy it. I’ve never really thought about how our food is grown and farmed.

Thanks Al, this truly is a gift and an eye opener about an industry that is so important to our Country.

Our books came safe and sound in the mail yesterday. We were all so excited to see them! They are amazing! Superb! Stunning!
The photos themselves are beautiful and well chosen. The variety of farms is incredible and the way they are presented makes every page a ‘Wow!’
The books are a testament to your love and passion for the rural life as well as an incredible eye for framing a great shot.
I took them to work today to show them off and at least 4 people took your details to investigate copies for family/friends.
I am taking them to the Adelaide Show tomorrow! I will put them somewhere they will be seen to show off your work (and us!)
When the show is over, I will be ordering prints & cards and extra books.
I can’t thank you enough for including our farm and family in such an inspiring book.

Dear Al, all I can say is wow, bloody brilliant. Our 2 books arrived over 2 days, Friday and Monday, but you had warned us that it was Australia Post. The books arrived in excellent order with no damage. These 2 books are wonderful, and will make wonderful gifts for our overseas clients, our company directors, and station managers. Your photography has really captured characters or rural Australia and what happens away from the bright lights of the city. I am still very happy to help you promote these books in any way I can because it shows the real Australia, and is not focused on our current period of drought across Eastern Australia where unfortunately there are a lot of people suffering some mental health problems and of course some short term financial hardship. The outlook for agriculture in Australia is bloody fantastic and we all need to continue to promote positive stories, and your books are testimonial to this.
Thank you again, great effort.

Our 2 copies of “The Grower”arrived last Friday in our mail bag so thank you very much. The family have been viewing the books when they call in but will need plenty of time to fully browse through. It was a huge undertaking but you have shown such a diverse picture of Australian country life which will be a pleasure for all of us to read in the coming weeks.

“The books show the real down to earth way of farming production in Australia, either large or small, hands on or machines on, and the vibrant colours only Australia can show. The photography is simply outstanding, and soul searching for the reader, and gives a great broad spectrum of individual circumstances of each agricultural land use. Some surprising facts have been included in short terms, showing the research and knowledge of the author – amazing stuff”

These books are helping to keep the profile of Agriculture alive. Currently we have just about everything working against us so it is entirely up to us to put ourselves back in the public eye. Al Mabin has spent a year of her life producing The Grower which is a huge step in this direction. Use this resource, make sure it is your local schools, libraries and homes. Encourage business to use it for Christmas corporate gifts, stock up with them for event trophies. Her book about freight and transportation throughout Australia is also very educational and well researched. No other country in the world has produced an agricultural photography and info book as extensive as The Grower series. We have one put in our laps and it seems it is not going to be utilised unless we all make a decision to buy them now. The cost of one of these books is equivalent to one dinner and a bottle of wine, or one shirt, or a pair of cheap shoes. The benefits of spreading this information through the public domain will last for many many years. I leave these thoughts with you all.

Alice Mabin has put together an amazing collection of awe inspiring photos depicting the wide diversity of Australian Agriculture and life on the land as it really is.
Dorothea Mackellar’s words could surely apply to the images in these books…

“I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me”

These Books are worth the look and would make an outstanding Personal or Corporate gift.
Mine already takes pride of place on the coffee table.

We were very impressed with your books the photography is just exceptional and has captured so many facets of agriculture. The detail and diversity makes these books something that will never date as there is so much to take in it won’t be hard to relax with a coffee and keep turning the pages and seeing something new and different.

The books are simply beautiful. As exciting as it is to be represented in them the greater value is that we are able to learn so much about our country through them. Your interpretation of the people and their industry’s is so well presented. I love that your art work tie families, their industry and the land (or water) together into an inseparable bundle.

I can only wonder at the amount of work that went into creating those pieces, but I am sure that your experiences meeting so many people and seeing so much of our country far out weigh any financial reward that may come.