Adrain Chesser
The Return

September 7 2014

Some people don’t just buy organic but go all the way. These contemporary “back to the land” communities practice a hunter-gatherer way of life and the photographer Adrain Chesser travelled with them for several years. Projects like this will serve as a touchstone to those interested in living differently.

Check out the website of the book to find more.


A growing number of people are looking for a harmony they find lacking in contemporary life. Many people hear a thread or two of indigenous wisdom and find it appealing. Only a few explore the ideals in depth. And fewer still consider the primal step of living in an ancient way.

The subjects in The Return are predominately not indigenous. Most carry European ancestry, and most come in one form or another from the disenfranchised margins of mainstream America. Most are poor, some are queer, some are transgender, some are hermits, and some are politically radical. All believe that major shifts are needed in the way modern society interacts with the natural world. These willing pioneers are stepping off into uncertain terrain, searching for something lost generations ago.

In their search, they struggle to be released from old ways of being. Cars, soda pop, cell phones, and cigarettes follow them. Convenience has a magnetic power. Addictions, cravings, and desires are hard to break. These pioneers seek a new way in the world while still learning to let go of the old. These are uncommon heroes shedding layer by layer the learned domestication of the dominator culture.
The Editors of the book