About

Brian Cassey – Photographer

Long based in Australia’s northern tropical city of Cairns, I was born in London UK and scored my first camera at the age of eleven – a VP Twin 127 Bakelite camera – 2/6d at Woolworths on the isle of Wight. First images on those earliest film rolls were of boy things like ocean liners leaving Southampton and the islands steam trains.

I spent my formative and ‘interesting’ teenage years playing and photographing football (the round ball World game). My sports pictures, along with a smattering of news, appeared regularly in London’s metro and suburban press before moving to Australia.

Currently working for numerous Australian and International media – newspapers, wires and magazines – principally covering news, features and sport.

Major news stories covered, amongst many more, are … the tsunami disaster in Sissano northern Papua New Guinea 1998 … the evacuation of refugees from East Timor 1999 … George Speight’s coup in Fiji and the World Economic Forum riots in Melbourne, both in 2000 … the victims of the 2002 Bali bomb blasts … the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami disaster in Banda Aceh Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar … Cyclones Larry (2006), Yasi (2011) and Jasper (2023) which brought devastation to northern Queensland Australia … and Australia’s detention of asylum seekers on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea in 2013, 2016 and 2017.

I am fortunate that my work has been recognised with numerous awards both in Australia and Internationally – and you can find the images and details on the ‘Awards’ page here.

My Instagram feed … @brian_cassey … may be found here … and Facebook page … @brian.cassey1 … here …

I am also a member of two of the renowned Planet wide ‘everyday’ Instagram collectives …

@everydayclimatechange (addressing climate change issues around the World through imagery) … and … @everydayaustralia (depictions of daily life in Australia).

(PLEASE NOTE … Commercial or personal use of any of the images on this site without the written permission of Brian Cassey is prohibited under Australian and International copyright laws. Copyright © 2025 and earlier)

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EXHIBITIONS OF WORK

My work has been extensively exhibited in Australia and Internationally … amongst those are …

OPENING SOON ! July 2025 – Group Exhibition – Art-Icon “Faces” – Rencontres d’Arles (Arles International Photo Festival) – Arles – France

April 2025 – Member of the 2025 Head On Photo Festival Exhibition Selection Panel – Sydney

January – March 2025 – Personal Exhibition – “A Photographer’s Life – Part Three – Portrait” – Mulgrave Gallery – Cairns

January – February 2025 – Group Exhibition – Curator and Exhibitor – “Paper Tigers 25 – An Anthology of Contemporary Australian Photojournalism” (60 works by 60 Photojournalists – exhibition and book) – Court House Gallery – Cairns

January- March 2025 – Curator and Mentor – “Word on the Street” (photojournalism by Cairns visual arts school students) – Mulgrave Gallery – Cairns

December 2024 – Group Exhibition – “Fotonostrum 8th Biennale – 20th Pollux Awards” – Mediterranean House of Photography Gallery – Barcelona, Spain

December 2024 – Group Exhibition – “Wish You Were Here” – Crate 59 Gallery, Cairns

November 2024 -November 2025 – Group Exhibition – “Dodho Color Awards” – Online Exhibition and published in the book Color – Best Photographers of 2024″

September 2024 – Group Exhibition – “Head On Portrait Prize” – Pingyao International Photography Festival – Shanxi, China

June – September 2024 – Group Exhibition – “Percival Photographic Portrait Prize” (Finalist X 3) – Perc Tucker Regional Gallery – Townsville

April 2024 – Member of the 2024 Head On Photo Festival Exhibition Selection Panel – Sydney

February 2024 – February 2025 – Group Exhibition – “Dodho Fine Art Awards” – Best 25 – Online Exhibition and published in the book “Fine Art – Best Photographers of 2023”

December 2023 – Group Exhibition – “19th Pollux Awards” – Fotonostrum Gallery – Barcelona, Spain

December 2023 – Group Exhibition – “Wish You Were Here” – Crate 59 Gallery, Cairns

November – December 2023 – Group Exhibition – “Head On Portrait Awards” – Head On Photo Festival – Bondi Pavilion Sydney – Sydney

November – December 2023 – Curator and Exhibitor – Group Exhibition – “Paper Tigers 23 – An Anthology of Contemporary Australian Photojournalism” (60 works by 60 Photojournalists – exhibition and book) – The Muse TAFE Ultimo – Head On Photo Festival

October 2023 – Group Exhibition – “The Burning Cane Portrait Exhibition” – Crate 59 Gallery, Cairns

June 2023 – January 2024 – Group Exhibition – “Working Country: Aboriginal Stockmen and Stockwomen” – State Library of Queensland, Brisbane – Kuril Dhagun room

April – May 2023 – Group Exhibition – “Sony World Photography Awards” – Somerset House, London, UK

April 2023 – Member of the 2023 Head On Photo Festival Exhibition Selection Panel – Sydney

December – January 2022 – Group Exhibition – “Red Hot” – The Kite Gallery, Cairns

December 2022 – Group Exhibition – “Wish You Were Here” – Crate 59 Gallery, Cairns

November 2022 – Personal Exhibition – “(Selections From) – A Photographer’s Life – Part Two” – Paddington Reservoir Gardens, Sydney – Head On Photo Festival

November – December 2022 – Curator and Exhibitor – Group Exhibition – “Paper Tigers – An Anthology of Contemporary Australian Photojournalism” (60 works by 60 Photojournalists – exhibition and book) – Delmar Gallery, Ashfield, Sydney – Head On Photo Festival

November – January 2022 – Group Exhibition – “2022 Kuala Lumpur International Photoawards – KLPA” – Temu House, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

November – December 2022 – Group Exhibition – “2022 Kuala Lumpur International Photoawards – KLPA” – Yakushima Photo Festival, Yakushima, Japan

November 2022 – Group Exhibition – “The Burning Cane Portrait Exhibition” – Crate 59 Gallery, Cairns

October 2022 – Group Exhibition – “2022 Kuala Lumpur International Photoawards – KLPA”– 8th Suwon International Photography Festival – Suwon, South Korea

September – October 2022 – Group Exhibition – “2022 Australian Life Photography Awards & Exhibition” – Hyde Park, Sydney

September – October 2022 – Group Exhibition – “2022 Kuala Lumpur International Photoawards – KLPA”– GMBB Arts – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

June 2022 – Group Exhibition – “2021 Kuala Lumpur International Photoawards – KLPA”– Auckland Festival of Photography – Lake House Arts, Takapuna, New Zealand

May 2022 – Group Exhibition – “2021 Kuala Lumpur International Photoawards – KLPA”– Auckland Festival of Photography – Ellen Melvile Centre, Auckland, New Zealand

April – May 2022 – Group Exhibition – “The 2021 Nikon-Walkley Press Photography Exhibition” – Walkley Awards – Focal Point Gallery – Geelong, Victoria

February – March 2022 – Group Exhibition – “2021 Kuala Lumpur International Photoawards – KLPA” – GMBB Arts – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

February 2022 – Group Exhibition – “The 2021 Nikon-Walkley Press Photography Exhibition” – Walkley Awards – International Convention Centre (ICC), Darling Harbour, Sydney

February 2022 – Group Exhibition – “Maldon Photographic Portrait Prize – I Be Human”– Edge Galleries, Maldon, Victoria

December 2021 – January 2022 – Group Exhibition – “6th Biennial of Fine Art & Documentary Photography” – FotoNostrum Gallery, Barcelona, Spain

December 2021 – January 2022 – Exhibition Photography – “Deadly Threads”  – Cairns Art Gallery, Cairns

November – December 2021 – Group Exhibition – “The 2021 Nikon-Walkley Press Photography Exhibition” – Fountain Court, New South Wales Parliament Building, Sydney

October – December 2021 – Personal Exhibition – “A Photographer’s Life – Part Two” – The Court House Gallery, Cairns

September – October 2021 – Group Exhibition – “IRIS Awards 2019” – Perth Centre for Photography Gallery, Perth

March – October 2021 – Exhibition Photography – “Deadly Threads”  – State Library of Queensland, Brisbane

November 2020 – Curator and Exhibitor – Group Exhibition – “Paper Tigers – An Anthology of Contemporary Australian Photojournalism” (60 works by 60 Photojournalists – exhibition and book launch) – Twenty Twenty Six Gallery, South Bondi, Sydney – Head On Photo Festival

November 2020 – Personal Exhibition – “Me Too ! … Where the Boys Are … the Girls Are …”  – Paddington Reservoir Gardens, Sydney – Head On Photo Festival

October 2020 – Group Exhibition – “Portrait of Humanity” – Exhibition of Portrait Collection ‘In Space’ (and in the volume “Portrait of Humanity Vol 2” published by Hoxton Press)

June 2020 – Group Exhibition  – “Twenty – Two Decades of Queensland Photography”  – State Library of Queensland, Brisbane

May – July 2020 – Group Exhibition – “Percival Photographic Portrait Prize” – Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville

May 2020 – Curator and Exhibitor – Group Exhibition – “Paper Tigers – An Anthology of Contemporary Australian Photojournalism” (60 works by 60 Photojournalists – exhibition and book) – Head On Photo Festival – Online (physical exhibition of works, November in Sydney)

May 2020 – Personal Exhibition – “Me Too ! … Where the Boys Are … the Girls Are” – Head On Photo Festival – Online (physical exhibition of works, November in Sydney)

March – May 2020 – Group Exhibition – “Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize 2019” – Gosford Regional Gallery – Gosford NSW

December 2019 – February 2020 – Group Exhibition – “Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize 2019” – Moran Gallery, Sylvania

November – December 2019 – Group Exhibition – “Portrait Salon” – Photo North Festival, Harrogate Convention Centre, UK

November 2019 – Group Exhibition – “Portrait Salon” – Royal Photographic Society House, Bristol, UK

October 2019 – Group Exhibition – “IRIS Awards 2019” – Perth Centre for Photography Gallery, Perth

October 2019 – Group Exhibition – “Fremantle International Portrait Prize” – Moores Building Contemporary Art Gallery, Fremantle

October 2019 – Group Exhibition – “Australian Photography Awards” (APA) – Sun Studios, South Melbourne

September – October 2019 – Climate Change Exhibition – “Every Day for Tomorrow – 내일을 위한 매일” – (exhibition of my work on the ‘Schools Strike for Climate Action’) – Pangyo Eco Center Gallery – Seongnam, South Korea

June 2019 – Group Exhibition – “Moscow International Foto Awards 2019 (MIFA)” – Moscow Photocenter – Moscow, Russia

May – June 2019 – Group Exhibition – “Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize 2019” – Head On Photo Festival – Juniper Hall, Paddington, Sydney

May 2019 – Personal Exhibition – “18 Minutes Inside Manus Detention Centre” – White Rhino Artspace, St Leonards, Sydney

November 2018 – TEDx Alfred – “A Better World” – “Manus Island … Heaven & Hell” – AMREP Theatre, Melbourne

July 2018 – Personal and Joint Exhibition with artist Rick Beresford – “Sunday at Six” – Crate 69 Gallery , Cairns

May 2018 – Group Exhibition – “Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA) Winners Exhibition” – ICA Gallery, Chūō, Tokyo

May – July 2018 –  Group Exhibition – “The Percival Photographic Portrait Prize” – Pinnacles Gallery, Townsville

February – March 2018 – Personal Exhibition – “Inside Manus Detention Centre” – The Fox Gallery, Melbourne,

February – April 2018 – Group Exhibition – “National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017” – Devonport Regional Gallery, Devonport, Tasmania

January 2018 – Personal Exhibition – “Living in a Coffin & Cage Dwellers of Hong Kong” – Zeytinburnu International Photography Festival (Z FotoFest) – ‘Abandoned – Rural – Overcrowded’ – Zeytinburnu Cultural And Art Center, Istanbul, Turkey

December 2017 – January 2018 – Personal Exhibition – “A Photographer’s Life – Part One” – The Tanks Arts Centre, Cairns

September – November 2017 – Group Exhibition – “National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017”  – Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery, Mornington, Victoria

September – October 2017 – Group Exhibition – “The 2016 Nikon Walkley Press Photography Exhibition”  – WA Maritime Museum, Perth, WA

August – September 2017 – Group Exhibition – inaugural “Martin Kantor Portrait Prize” – Ballarat International Foto Biennale – Ballarat Town Hall

July – August 2017 – Group Exhibition – “National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017” – Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, Katoomba, NSW

May – June 2017 – Personal Exhibition – “A Photographer’s Life – Part One” – Juniper Hall, Paddington, Sydney – Head On Photo Festival 2017  Featured Exhibition

June – July 2017 – Group Exhibition – “Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize 2016” – Moran Gallery, Sylvania, NSW

June 2017 – Personal and Joint Exhibition with artist Rick Beresford – “The Remixes” – The Flying Monkey Gallery, Cairns

June 2017 – Group Exhibition – “Fremantle International Portrait Prize – Retrospective” – Brookfield Place, Perth – & – Team Digital, Epson Print Gallery, Perth

May – June 2017 – Group Exhibition – “Head On Portrait Prize Retrospective – Past Finalists” – aMBUSH Gallery (Here, There & Everywhere) – Woolloongong Central

March – June 2017 – Group Exhibition – “National Photographic Portrait Prize 2017” – National Portrait Gallery, Canberra

April – May 2017 – Group Exhibition – “The 2016 Nikon Walkley Press Photography Exhibition” – Wallsend Library, Newcastle

March – April 2017 – Group Exhibition – “Home” – Contact Sheet Gallery, St Leonards, Sydney

March 2017 – Group Exhibition – “Earth’s Ceiling” – Trolley Studio Gallery – Gordonvale, Qld

February 2017 – Group Exhibition – “Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA) Winners Exhibition” – Owada Gallery, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

2017 – Selected on the Exhibition Selection Committee for the 2017 “Head On Photo Festival”, Sydney

December 2016 – February 2017 – Group Exhibition “The 2016 Nikon Walkley Press Photography Exhibition” – State Library of South Australia, Adelaide

December 2016 – January 2017 – Group Exhibition “The Best of Blunt” – Flying Monkey Gallery, Cairns

December 2016 – Group Exhibition “The Blunt Edge of Portraiture” Tenth Anniversary Show – Pink Phoenix Gallery, Cairns

October – November 2016 – Group Exhibition “The 2016 Nikon Walkley Press Photography Exhibition” – State Library of New South Wales,  Sydney – and – ABC Studios, Brisbane

October 2016 – February 2017 – Group Exhibition – “Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize 2016” – Juniper Hall, Paddington, Sydney

September – October 2016 – Group Exhibition “The William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize” – Monash Gallery of Art, Victoria

July – August 2016 – Group Exhibition “Moscow International Foto Awards (MIFA) 2016” –  Na Kashirke Gallery – Moscow, Russia

March 2016 – Group Exhibition “CLIP – Contemporary Landscapes in Photography Award” – Perth Centre for Photography, Perth

March 2016 – Group Exhibition “In Retrospect – Head On Portrait Prize” at ‘Art Month Sydney – Art at Night’ – The Old Rum Store, Chippendale, Sydney

December 2015 – Group Exhibition “The Blunt Edge of Portraiture – Virgin Awards” – crate59 Gallery, Cairns

November 2015 – Video Presentation “Moscow International Foto Awards (MIFA)” – ‘Moving Image Essay’ Winning Short Film – “Eyes – the Soul of a Photograph” – FotoLoft Gallery, Moscow, Russia

October 2015 – Group Exhibition “The Head On Portrait Prize” – Indian Photography Festival – Hyderabad, India

October 2015 – Group Exhibition “Fremantle International Portrait Prize” – Moores Building Contemporary Art Gallery, Fremantle

September 2015 – Group Exhibition “The Head On Portrait Prize” – Photoville Photo Festival, New York, USA

August 2015 – Group Exhibition “Unexpected” – Flying Monkey Gallery, Cairns

May – June 2015 – Group Exhibition “The Head On Moving Image Prize” – Brenda May Gallery, Sydney

May – June 2015 – Group Exhibition “The Head On Portrait Prize” – Museum of Sydney

May 2015 – Member of the Head On Photo Festival Team (Sydney) for 2015

May – June 2015 – Group Exhibition “Retrospective – FIPP Portrait Prize” – Epson Print Gallery, Perth

March- April 2015 – Personal Exhibition “The Aak Puul Ngantam Stockman” – Godinymayin Yijard Rivers Arts and Culture Centre, Katherine, NT  (‘Proof: Photo Essays from the Top End’)

October 2014 – Group Exhibition “Faces of Poverty” – 26th Annual Gordon Parks International Photography Exhibition – Gordon Parks Museum Kansas and other venues in the USA

August 2014 – Personal Exhibition “The Aak Puul Ngantam Stockman” – “Taking It Home To Aurukun” – township centre of Aurukun, Cape York Peninsula

July 2014 – Juror at the 2014 “Kellicutt International Photo Show”  – Half Moon Bay, San Francisco USA

May 2014 – Curator and Exhibitor – Group Exhibition “The Genesis Project” – .M Contemporary Gallery, Sydney (Head On Photo Festival)

May 2014 – Personal Exhibition “The Aak Puul Ngantam Stockman”  – Northern Centre for Contemporary Art, Darwin (‘Proof: Photo Essays from the Top End’)

March 2014 – Personal Exhibition “The Aak Puul Ngantam Stockman” – The Tanks Arts Centre‘, Cairns

March 2014 – Group Exhibition “Head On – Selected Works” – X88 Gallery, Sydney

November 2013 – May 2014 – Group Exhibition “The 2013 Nikon Walkley Press Photography Exhibition” – venues around Australia

August 2013 – Group Exhibition “Fremantle International Portrait Prize” – Moores Building Contemporary Art Gallery, Fremantle

August – September 2013 – Group Exhibition “The Head On Portrait Prize” – Ballarat International Foto Biennale – Ballarat, Victoria

June 2013 – Group Exhibition “Kuala Lumpur International Photo Awards” – with “Roustabout” – Galeri Petronas, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

May 2013 – Personal Exhibition “The Aak Puul Ngantam Stockman” – Global Gallery, Sydney

May 2013 – Group Exhibition “The Head On Portrait Prize” – State Library of NSW, Sydney

September 2012 – Group Exhibition “Kellicutt International Photo Show – Vibrant” – Half Moon Bay, San Francisco USA

May 2012 – ‘fotostrada’ Collective Exhibition “Portraits on a Bus” – Global Gallery, Sydney (Head On Photo Festival)

November 2011 – February 2012 – Group Exhibition “The 2011 Nikon Walkley Press Photography Exhibition” – venues around Australia

September 2011 – Personal Exhibition “Cage Homes of Hong Kong” – Gwangju Design Biennale, Gwangju, South Korea

May 2011 – Collective Exhibition ‘fotostrada’ – Global Gallery, Sydney (Head On Photo Festival)

May 2011 – Group Exhibition “The Head On Portrait Prize” – Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney

May 2011 – Group Exhibition “Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize” – State Library of NSW, Sydney

May 2010 – Group Exhibition “Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize” – State Library of NSW, Sydney

June 2008 – Group Exhibition “23rd Annual Gordon Parks International Photography Exhibition” – Gordon Parks Museum, Kansas USA

November 2007 – Group Exhibition “The 2007 Nikon Walkley Press Photography Exhibition” – venues around Australia

November 2006 – Group Exhibition “The 2006 Nikon Walkley Press Photography Exhibition” – venues around Australia

November 2005 – Group Exhibition “The 2005 Nikon Walkley Press Photography Exhibition” – venues around Australia

Pre 2005 – Various (and many long forgotten)

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CLIENTS

Over many years I have been fortunate to have worked regularly for a long list of newspapers, magazines and agencies from around the planet. Below are just some of the more notable.