
Patricia Bianca S. Taculao
Some of our favorite clothing pieces are made from wool because it is soft, warm, and very comfortable. While putting on a woolen jacket is easy, what happens inside the shearing shed is far from a walk in the park.
But it’s more than just another job to be done.

Shearing a sheep near its neck, as the sheep looks up, almost smiling.
Shearing wool from a sheep is an intimate process between the animal and its shearer, a process done with care and consideration.

Shearers go by feel when they are shearing.
Shearers to go about their task just by feeling their way under the wool and following the sheeps’ curves to be sure that the sheep are treated with care.
Workplace health and safety is also a very important factor to mind in the shearing industry.
This series of photographs by Chantle McAlister as seen in abc.net sheds light on the surprisingly intimate relationship between shearer and sheep.