India Images … a Reprise …

Very refreshing to see some of my work from India a few years back given a new lease of life in print this weekend.

The piece was published in the ‘Weekend Post’ edition of ‘Cairns Eye’ magazine … the story entitled ‘Global Wanderers’ consisting of text and pics from three “eternal travellers” … Cairns personalities who “view the World through a different lens”. The other two ‘travellers’ are underwater photographer and film maker Christian Miller and former Cairns … now Indonesian based … Balawyn Jones.

My first person one page piece told, accompanied by five photos, of a jaunt around Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh India with a couple of photographer colleagues (Rob Maccoll and Peter Wallis) in a classic Hindustan Ambassador taxi. With the invaluable and so pleasant help of our driver and Ambassador owner Kishore, we travelled to the best bits of both states and made myriads of images. In addition to the five images inside with my story, one pic from the Jaipur elephant festival was also used to grace the whole cover of ‘Cairns Eye’ (see below – I don’t believe that this elephant pic has had an airing in print before).

Won’t disclose the text and spoil it for readers … grab yourself a copy of the ‘Weekend Post’ for a read.

More of my work from India can be found on my web site at … https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/photographs/india/ … and … https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/photographs/india-redux-2016/

Below are grabs of the ‘Cairns Eye’ cover (with Jaipur elephant image) and page nine with my text/images.

Images © Brian Cassey and The Cairns Post.

 

Cairns Post - Cairns Eye Travel Issue - Global Wanderers - India images by Brian Cassey

Cairns Post - Cairns Eye Travel Issue - Global Wanderers - India images by Brian Cassey

India … Redux … 2016

… it’s five years since I visited India for a memorable journey with colleagues Rob Maccoll and Peter Wallis …one of the aims of which was to document life on a road trip from a – once ubiquitous, now disappearing – iconic Hindustan Motors Ambassador (an Indian version of the British 1950’s Morris Oxford).

We found our Ambassador and real gentleman driver Kishore in Jodhpur and travelled – not without incident – through the states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan … and between us amassed a few photographs.

On returning to Australia I managed a quick edit of the total images and published a pic essay on my personal web site and the ‘fotostrada’ site entitled “India in an Ambassador” which you can find at … www.briancasseyphotographer.com/photographs/india/ .. .and … www.fotostrada.com/brian-cassey/india-in-ambassador/BCRaja1/.

However, just the other day I was searching for one of the original pic files and delving into the India archive. I kept noticing images that I had missed during the original edit. So I kept looking …

This is the result – “India Redux 2016” – 34 essentially NEW images that have never seen ‘the light of day’ before … from New Delhi, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Agra, Vrindavan, Pushkar, Jaipur and Varanasi and the roads in-between.

(That’ll learn me to take more care during big edits … !)

The new essay is now live on my site at … https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/photographs/india-redux-2016/ … and also in ‘Latest Stories’ on the ‘fotostrada’ photojournalist web site at … http://www.fotostrada.com/latest-stories/india—redux-2016/BCIndiaRedux28v/

Below are just three teaser images from the new essay … top and bottom from Jodhpur, middle from Varanasi.

Images © Brian Cassey

Jodhpur - India Redux 2016 - Brian Cassey

Ex Cairns Australia pic by Brian Cassey Varanasi - India Redux - 2016 Pic by Brian Cassey

Ex Cairns Australia pic by Brian Cassey Jodhpur - India Redux - 2016 Pic by Brian Cassey

Masters of Photography …

Somehow … and this was a surprise to me too … a selection of my work made in India from the “India in an Ambassador” essay has now just been featured on the “Masters of Photography” web site amidst some truly stunning company and work.

The site has for some years featured … up to now 😉 …  the best photojournalism and photojournalists from around the planet and the collection of work is really something to pore over. Gawd knows what my images are doing amongst work of the highest calibre by PJ high flying legends such as … Steve McCurry (https://mastersofphotography.wordpress.com/2013/09/29/steve-mccurry/ & https://mastersofphotography.wordpress.com/2014/01/21/portraits-of-resilience-steve-mccurry/) … Lynsey Addario (https://mastersofphotography.wordpress.com/2015/02/10/lynsey-addario-2/) … the late Tim Hetherington (https://mastersofphotography.wordpress.com/2013/06/17/tim-hetherington/) …
Daniel Berehulak (https://mastersofphotography.wordpress.com/2015/04/24/daniel-berehulak-2/ & https://mastersofphotography.wordpress.com/2014/12/18/daniel-berehulak/) … James Nachtwey (https://mastersofphotography.wordpress.com/2012/12/23/james-nachtwey/) … and many many more crackers too numerous to mention.

The site at https://mastersofphotography.wordpress.com adds work on a daily basis (mine was added six days ago) and it is a ‘must see’ for anybody even vaguely interested in photojournalism and photography.

Below is a grab of the page showing just six of the sixteen “India in an Ambassador” images that featured on “Masters of Photography”. (The total ‘India’ collection constitutes 53 pics and they may be found on my web site here.)

Images from India © Brian Cassey

Masters of Photography - Brian Cassey - India in an Ambassador

A Gallery Sale …

It may have fetched a little less than Gursky’s ‘Rhine II’ – about four million, two hundred thousand, nine hundred and five dollars (give or take a few bucks) less – but it’s a ‘sale’ nevertheless and not to be sniffed at!

My “Rajasthan Dancers” print has apparently been purchased by a (at the moment anonymous) ‘collector’ following the offer for sale on the USA based Duncan Miller Gallery “Your Daily Photograph” collection. Damn fine news and I’m exceedingly grateful to YDP guest curator Alison Stieven-Taylor for supporting my work and making it all possible.

Alison’s spell as guest curator for the month of August on YDP has meant that the work of a host of Australian photographers have received invaluable exposure to collectors , museums and galleries in over 74 countries around our planet … and has made more visible the exceptional work of ‘Down Under’ based photo artists. In great company my work was just ‘one day’ out of 30 which also included, amongst others, the great works of Megan Lewis, Tim PageSam Harris, Paul Blackmore, Louise Whelan, Claire MartinJohn Ogden, Patricia Casey, Kerry Pryor and Tami Xiang … and there is still over a week of Alison’s curating to go.

“Your Daily Photograph” is a great initiative and window for anyone interested in ‘the photograph’ … and well worth the free subscription.

Below is a cut from the YDP page which includes my image … and a click on it will take you to the original page.

Image “Rajasthan Dancers” © Brian Cassey 2011

YDPBlog

Duncan Miller Gallery USA …

Thanks to photography journalist and curator Alison Stieven-Taylor one of my images has been featured and offered for sale in the Duncan Miller Gallery (California) “Your Daily Photograph” selection.

Every day the Gallery selects a small percentage of the photographs submitted and offers just four for sale to the first person to ‘reserve’.

Apparently I’m humbly in very good company …  “in the recent past images from Henri Cartier-Bresson, Andreas Gursky, Richard Misrach, Andre Kertesz, Edward Burtynsky and other photography legends have appeared in “Your Daily Photograph” … I’m told.

The price tag on my work is just slightly less than Gursky’s World record breaking photograph price of $4.3 million for the ‘Rhine II’. Compared to that my image is an absolute bargain …

Alison Stieven-Taylor is appearing as a guest curator on “Your Daily Photograph” for the month of August and she is responsible for the selection of my “Rajasthan Dancers”. Alison is a renowned journalist specialising in all matters of a photography nature. She is a contributor to many photo news magazines and web sites (including the prestigious L’Oeil de la Photographie) and also runs the ‘must read’ web site “Photojournalism Now”.

The link to my day of “Your Daily Photograph” is … http://eepurl.com/0eKtf … and the image in question – “Rajasthan Dancers” – appears below.

Image © Brian Cassey

Rajasthan & Holi pic essay on 'fotostrada' - copyright pics by Brian Cassey

 

A Win … and a Third … in the US …

Just received the great news that TWO of my images featured in last nights presentation of awards at the “2012 Kellicutt International Juried Photo Show” in California. My image of Carol Mayer – “Carol – Burns Survivor” – was judged the overall Winner (very gratifying!), whilst my image from Udaipur India – “Rajasthan Dancers” gained a Third place!!!

The theme of this years show was “Vibrant” and it is indeed an honour to have two images selected by the judges from a large contingent of amazingly vibrant and accomplished works from around the World.

The jurors made some very nice comments in regards to my images … and I will ensure that Carol gets to see the comments made about the image of her below …

From juror Kate Jordahl – “Difficult to look at, but as the eyes are the windows to the soul, we see a soul strong and loving, sad and knowing. We are drawn into the tragedy and triumph of this women’s life. The photographer truly connected with Carol and allows us to see her with empathy and understanding.”

From juror Scott Atkinson – “At first I looked away from this print, but it’s impossible to escape the spirit in those eyes! The face, like a windswept landscape, is now burnished to a swirling patina by both time and the camera’s selective focus. The slightly smudged lipstick adds a touch of normal. But it’s those eyes, those sharply focused blue eyes, that show the vibrant world that lives behind the skin. They’ll follow you throughout the gallery.”

From juror Michael Collopy – “The deep blue calm of her eyes accented by her red lips provides the viewer a direct connection to her apparent triumph over tragedy that is written in her textured face. Her eyes follow you throughout the room. This is a visually arresting photograph that is beautifully and simply achieved. It has a profound result. I liked the fact the photographer chose natural light to illuminate this beautiful portrait. It is a tight crop that continues the honest, revealing and direct dialogue between the photographer and subject. The stunning result conveys the trust and connection that the photographer has achieved.”

Kate Jordahl also commented on the Rajasthan pic – “Movement and color join in a literal dance of light and life. This image captures the swirling dancers at the peak moment of this event showing us as only as photography can what we can feel but not actually see with our eyes.”

Seems like I get a very nice trophy (image below) and a little cheque … and the exhibition of the 45 Finalist images will continue at the Coastal Arts League Gallery in Half Moon Bay CA  before the exhibition moves to the Calumet Gallery in San Francisco in August.

Would have been very nice to have been at the awards presentation in the U S of A on Saturday night … c’est la vie …

Below the pic of the trophy are my Winning and Third placed images – “Carol – Burns Survivor” and “Rajasthan Dancers” – © Brian Cassey