Just returned from three days ‘down south ‘at Mooloolaba southern Queensland, courtesy of the Walkley Foundation and the University of the Sunshine Coast.
My (rather pleasant) tasks over the three days were to ‘talk my head of’ on the subject of photojournalism at the ‘Ord Minnett Art & Architecture Lecture’ series, host five classes of University journalism students … and perform as ‘guest speaker’ at the Sunshine Coast opening of the ‘Nikon Walkley Press Photography Exhibition’.
Despite torrential rain and flash flooding (Sunshine Coast ?) all the events were extremely well attended. The ‘Nikon Walkley Press Photography Exhibition’ was hung by the charming USC Gallery curator Dawn Oelrich and the prints were very well presented and lit in the campus Gallery ‘space’. Well over a hundred braved the lousy weather on Thursday eve to attend, view the work selected as Australia’s best press pics of 2013 and listen to myself rabbit on about photojournalism and my and the other finalists work. CEO of the Walkley Foundation and MEAA Federal Secretary – Chris Warren – was also in attendance to address the throng.
On the previous night over thirty five souls were brave enough to withstand over an hour of my ‘Ord Minnett’ lecture. To support my words on the subject of photojournalism I also projected over a hundred images and demonstrated some obscure pieces of camera kit. Some of the pics and some of the kit dated back … well … a few decades.
I also spoke to five classes of journalism students … almost a hundred in total … on the press photography in the gallery (including mine of course) and the fragile future of photojournalism. Several young students were, however, determined to continue along the PJ path.
Still, it made a pleasant change to spend my time talking about pictures rather than making them.
In case you missed it you can find my selected ‘Nikon Walkley Press Photographer of the Year’ portfolio here … http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkleyfoundation/sets/72157636407740096/
Below are two quick pics from the exhibition opening eve of guests checking out the wall with my selected ‘Nikon Walkley Press Photographer of the Year’ print portfolio.
All images © Brian Cassey
