Made a bit of a detour on the way home from Mumbai … via Brisbane … to attend the annual Queensland media awards … “The Clarion Awards” at the Exhibition and Convention Centre.
It’s always a great night … hosted by the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) … that acknowledges the achievements of the Sunshine States (now somewhat shrinking) media. This year the evening was made a little ‘greater’ for me when awarded a ‘win’ in the “Best Photographic Essay’ category for my work “Inside Manus Detention Centre”.
Although the work has previously been shown as an exhibition (here & here)… it is the first time it has been recognised with an award by, essentially, my peers. Pretty excited and gratified about that.
The work documents the visit of myself and journalist Rory Callinan to the Lombrum Manus Island Detention Centre in Papua New Guinea just two days after it was abandoned by the Australian Government leaving over 600 asylum seekers to fend for themselves with no water, no food, no power … and no services whatsoever. We were the first print media to gain access inside the centre. The work was syndicated around News Ltd publications by News 360.
Below are just a small selection of images from the Winning essay. © Brian Cassey
Thanks MEAA !
