Awards | Brian Cassey Photographer Cairns Australia

Head On … Remarkable Photo Fest …

November 14, 2025November 13, 2025

... just returned from a fabulous (and full on) few days in Sydney at the 2025 Head On Photo Festival.

A truly brilliant launch eve at the Bondi Pavilion to open this years festival … great large crowd of attendees and some lovely photography, awards and prizes, fat hot dogs and wine … perfect.

Was in Sydney for the festival in my capacity of featured exhibition exhibitor, award finalist, panelist … and more. This year the festival hosted well over a hundred exhibitions of photography … and I was thrilled and fortunate that one of them was my exhibition of work “Up North – Tropical People”. My featured collection … shown in prime position in the tranquil contemplative beautiful surrounds of the Paddington Reservoir Gardens … consisted of images of many of the characters that make Cairns and the tropical north home. Thanks Head On …

Also in the Reservoir Gardens complex was the collected works selected as ‘Finalists’ in the Head On Exposure Awards … and I was again delighted to be selected amongst their number with my image “Crush of Humanity – Dahi Handi – Mumbai”, made on an Indian adventure some years back.

The quality of the work in all this years Head On Awards … Portrait, Landscape and Exposure … was truly very special. Honoured to be amongst the list.

The winner of the Exposure Award was a remarkable, powerful, tragic and thought provoking image entitled “Faith Amidst Genocide”, made in war torn Gaza by Turkish photographer Abdelrahman Alkahlout.

Bondi Pavilion and the Bondi Promenade hosted many awards and exhibition collections for thousands of beach goers and tourists to take in … including a great exhibition of sport images (by many of my friends and colleagues) to celebrate the Walkley Awards 70th year … “Sporting Moments Through the Lens”. Pretty classic, that one …

One of the less obvious highlights was somewhat of a festival coup … the screening (first in the southern hemisphere) of the film “The Stringer”. Somewhat controversial, the film documents the authorship disputation of the iconic Vietnam war photograph “The Terror of War” (more commonly referred to as “Napalm Girl”). The screening also saw a live appearance by one of the films main characters and ‘witness’ … former Associated Press Vietnam pic editor Carl Robinson … who verbalised his account of the proceeding fifty years ago. Fascinating stuff … but far too complicated to go further into it all here. (“The Stringer” launches on Netflix later this month … ).

Now for a shameless bit of name dropping … just some of the co-panelists, photographers, award nominees, festival attendees and thoroughly nice people that I engaged with over my five days at the festival in Sydney … Dave Gray, John Swainston, Kate Geraghty, Glenn Lockitch, Judith Nangala Crispin, Paul Blackmore, Tegan Sadlier, Michele Aboud, Sebastian Giunta, Tim Levy, Jess Prescott, Bronek Kozka, Pia Jessen, Guy Templeton, Fiona Bowring, Grace Costa, Birgit Neiser, Anastasia Trahanas, Dianne Brooks … and many many more … AND … of course … the Head On crew that made it all happen … Moshe, Anita, Stephen, Paula and all the others involved in keeping the wheels turning. Thank You !

When travelling I do make a point to research any photographic exhibitions showing … and outside of Head On in Sydney I found a couple worth visiting at the State Library of New South Wales … “Merv Bishop: Close Up” (Merv made that iconic image of Vincent Lingiari and Gough Whitlam with red dirt running through his fingers) and “PIX: The Magazine that Changed Everything” (brilliant nostalgic exhibition exploring the fantastic photography in the publication that spanned thirty four years of the twentieth century). Both shows an added bonus to the Sydney visit …

Images … from top … “Up North – Tropical People” in the Reservoir Gardens (top two), Exposure Award finalist “Crush of Humanity – Dahi Handi – Mumbai” in Reservoir Gardens, Walkley 70th Anniversary Sport imagery exhibit on Bondi Beach, “The Stringer” and former AP pic editor Carl Robinson. All images © Brian Cassey except “The Stringer” imagery © Associated Press.

2025 Head On Photo Festival - exhibition "Up North - Tropical People" by Brian Cassey at Paddington Reservoir Gardens Sydney 8th to the 30th November 2025

2025 Head On Photo Festival - "Crush of Humanity - Dahi Handi - Mumbai" - finalist in the Head On Exposure Awards exhibited at Paddington Reservoir Gardens - finalist image by © Brian Cassey. Exhibition open 8th to the 30th November 2025

2025 Head On Photo Festival - Head On exhibition '𝘚𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘔𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘯𝘴', an exhibition celebrating seven decades of the Walkley Awards for excellence in Australian journalism - - at Bondi Beach Sydney 7th November 2025 Image © by Brian Cassey

2025 Head On Photo Festival - screening of the film "The Stringer" - first in the southern hemisphere - at the festival, Bondi Pavilion Sydney 9th November 2025 — “Terror of War” image (top) ©Associated Press

2025 Head On Photo Festival -screening of the film "The Stringer" - first in the southern hemisphere - at the festival . Main character and witness in the film former AP picture editor Carl Robinson is hugged by a member of photographer Nguyen Thành Nghe's family.Image © by Brian Cassey - at Bondi Pavilion Sydney 9th November 2025

Clarion Awards … a Tribute to ‘Resto Dave’ …

October 23, 2025October 23, 2025

… honestly didn’t expect this … great evening at the Sofitel in Brisbane Saturday … made even better by the very welcome announcements that I actually won both the major photography prizes in the 30th anniversary “Clarion Awards” (Queensland’s journalism awards).

However, the eve was tinged with sadness too …

My set of pictures of the life of friend and recently sadly passed away subject … “Millionaire Castaway David Glasheen” … was judged the winner of ‘Best Photographic Essay’, whilst my portrait of David recovering from his heart attack earlier this year won ‘Best News Photograph’. The work was published perfectly and respectfully in the Courier Mail with words by gun scribe Michael Madigan … many thanks for that CM !

Here are the ‘judges comments’ on my work …

Best Metropolitan News Photo … “Brian showed dogged determination to track down castaway David Glasheen after he had suffered a heart attack. Using good old fashioned news sense Brian found his friend David recovering in the Red Cross Rehabilitation Centre in Cairns. The photograph is a strong example of using available resources to capture a portrait. A clever use of light, painting a haunting image of the subject in his frail state.”

Best Photographic Essay … “Brian’s photographic essay of David Glasheen, the millionaire castaway, perfectly captures the unique, and dream-like nature of the man’s life. From taking a mannequin down a tropical island in a wheelbarrow, to beautiful portrait shots that show the impacts of time, the series clearly tells the story of how this man lived and the scars he carries. Brian’s exquisite technical skill, and his storytelling ability is clearly on display in this essay.”

I admit to having reservations when seeing my images of ‘Resto Dave’ … is was a terrible shock to talk to him on the phone in early July, just a couple of days before he succumbed in a Brisbane hospital to the effects of that February heart attack and other complications. He was a truly fascinating genuine character armed with humour, compassion and a zest for life. I recommend a read of his best selling book “The Millionaire Castaway”.

However, it was still a thoroughly enjoyable evening at the Sofitel … a fitting venue to commemorate thirty years of the media awards that celebrate the best of Queensland journalism.
This year the event was organised by the Queensland branch of the MEAA … and everyone did a stellar job. Fantastic to make the pilgrimage again to the ‘big smoke’ of Brisbane and enjoy the company of many journalists, photographers and other media colleagues.

Huge congrats to all the ‘Clarion’ finalists and winners … in particular the photography finalist contingent of Adam Head, Annette Dew, Glenn Hampson, Matt Dennien, Kenji Sato and Cairns based Brendan Radke.
Below are the images that comprised my winning entries … and David, you are very very sorely missed.

Images © Brian Cassey

IRIS, Head On, Prix de la Photographie, Analog Sparks & Mono … Awards and Exhibitions …

October 11, 2025October 7, 2025

… some unabashed self indulgent promotions and, well, recent updates regarding my work :-).

Firstly … … can now reveal the image that was selected as a ‘Finalist’ in the prestigious Perth Centre of Photography portrait “IRIS Award” (see top below). My selected work “Unsculpted – Australian Artist Tony Clark” was kept confidential until last Friday eves exhibition opening event.

It’s the fourth time in a row that I have had works selected and exhibited as a prize finalist in this bi-annual award ( see my earlier ‘finalists’ from 2023, 2021 and 2019 ).

PCP describes the portrait prize thus … “Embracing unrestrained approaches to portraiture, the Award celebrates works of nuance, raw emotion, and personal connection — revealing the essence of human relationships and lived experience, whether in love, joy, desire, distance, or disconnection. We are invited into the shifting constellations of human sentiment, a space for reflection and dialogue on intimacy and identity in contemporary life.”

The overall winner announced on Friday was ‘Sisterhood’ by Su Cassiano. Congrats Su !

The PCP “IRIS” exhibition of the thirty finalist portraits runs from the 4th to the 18th October at Cheap Tongue Gallery, Walyalup (Fremantle) Tuesday–Friday 10am–3pm. If you are in ‘The West’ I hope you can take it in … 🙂 .

On to November and the Head On Photo Festival for two pieces of nice news …

My latest exhibition in Australia’s premier photography festival … “Up North – Tropical People” … has now been confirmed. The work, pictorially portraying the wonderful inhabitants of the northern tropics of Australia, will grace the tranquil rustic walls of the Paddington Reservoir Gardens, Sydney from the 8th to the 30th November … and is free for everyone who wanders into the unique venue (second from top).

The judges at Head On have also selected one of my works … (that has to remain anonymous for now) … as a ‘Finalist’ in the festivals “Exposure Awards”. My selected photo will be in the ‘Exposure’ exhibition also displayed at Paddington Reservoir Gardens from the 8th to the 30th November and also free. All the award winners will be announced at a gala awards presentation at the Bondi Beach Pavilion on the eve of Friday the 7th. It’s always a really great event … !

Huge thanks to Moshe Rosenzveig OAM and the Head On Photo Festival team.

On to overseas now … and the news that TWO of my photographs were awarded ‘Bronze’ awards in the prestigious Paris based 2025 “Prix de la Photographie” (PX3). The awarded works are … “Millionaire Castaway – David Glasheen” (Press/People) and “Kids of Ali Curung” (Portrait) … (both below).

Exciting … but arguably more exciting was the recent announcement that an image I made several decades ago was selected as a ‘Silver’ award winner in the 2025 “Analog Sparks International Film Photography Awards” (fifth image down). The black and white film photograph of slalom water skier Steve Hook “On the Edge” last won me an award … the “Kodak Adidas Australian Sports Photograph of the Year” … exactly forty years ago in 1985 when I was almost a baby ! 🙂 . Pretty happy with that 🙂 .

Lastly … this post is getting a bit long … very happy to receive a ‘finalist’ recognition for a black and white version of my “Millionaire Castaway – David Glasheen” image in the ‘People’ category of Australia’s 2025 “Mono Awards” (bottom image below).

You may find more details of these on my website at … www.briancasseyphotographer.com/awards .

Images © Brian Cassey

IRIS, Head On, Prix de la Photographie, Analog Sparks & Mono … Awards and Exhibitions … … some unabashed self indulgent promotions and, well, recent updates regarding my work :-). Images © by Brian Cassey

Ten Years ! … Trinity Bay High School Portrait Prize …

September 24, 2025September 16, 2025

… a ten year milestone …

Have just had the great pleasure once again … for the tenth year … of judging the annual Trinity Bay High School photographic Portrait Prize … and what a show it was.

Back in 2016 I selected the work “Shades” by then 14 year old TBHS student Matthew Hastie as the portrait prize winner … hard to believe he’d now by knocking on the age of 24 !

In the intervening years I’ve been fascinated and oft times stunned by the photography produced by this schools visual arts students … a testament to their dedicated and enthusiastic teachers. Each year the newest crop of students step up and produce both thoughtful and quality portraits making the winners selections a difficult task. This year was certainly no exception …

Ultimately I selected the work “Hood Rat” (top below) by Tyquon Prasad O’Brien as this years winner … a beautifully composed and produced portrait that spoke of the seeming fragility of being a teenager in today’s world. Tyquorn was presented with a Nikon Z mirrorless camera kindly sponsored by Camera House.

Just behind Tyquon’s work was Sujan Rai’s portrait of subject Paula Moana Schwertfeger channeling “Taylor Swift” … a technically brilliant portrait based on a ‘Swiftie’ album cover. Sujan was presented with a polaroid camera. (More on album covers below … 🙂 ).

Also recognised were two Highly Commended portraits … “Twins” by Nyota Asumani Lufugula and “Motown Vibes” by Keanu Sudiana … great works both. I also found myself drawn to an emotive and different portrait on the wall by Lillian Orr entitled “Our Last Sunrise”. Something resonated with me and it turned out that the back story to the image was both emotional and very personal. It certainly deserves to be recognised.

The new ‘Junior’ category was won by Eva Nomotu for a nice portrait of her mother … ‘Peoples Choice’ went to Ally Payett for the ‘Wolf’ portrait … and the ‘Staff’ winner was Virgil Gill’s work “Kilth”.

Which brings to this years new innovation … a special project posed to the students to visually recreate music album covers ! Using photography and editing software the students created around sixty ‘takes’ on original CD covers … many technically great, some highly amusing and collectively a fantastic show. (see bottom image below for part of it). I selected the diptych by Aniisa Idai as the best in show, but in all honesty all the works were really all highly competent and highly entertaining ! (Especially liked ‘Kiss’, ‘The Group Fire’, ‘Fake it Flowers’ and, of course, ‘Amy Winehouse’ !)

The work presented at the show is a testament to the amazing talents of TBHS visual arts teachers … Janelle Williams, Caroline Mudge, Luke Marsden, Clair Lloyd and Melanie Tuxworth … the students are indeed lucky to have you. Take a bow …

You can view all the TBHS students winning works from the previous nine years by clicking here … 2024 … 2023 … 2022 … 2021 … 2020 … 2019 … 2018 … 2017 … 2016 …

Below … images from top and left to right © by … Tyquon Prasad O’Brien, Sujan Rai, Nyota Asumani Lufugula, Keanu Sudiana, Lillian Orr, Ally Payett, Eva Nomotu, Brian Cassey

AAP “Portrait” Winners Feature in Class Mag …

September 11, 2025

Very nice !

AAP Magazine has published a beautifully produced magazine featuring the “Portrait” award winning works of 25 portrait photographers from around the planet … from the USA, Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Lithuania, China, Israel, Turkey, Germany, Poland, Italy … and two from Australia … myself … and friend Carole Mills Noronha whose work graces the magazine cover.

My winning image … “100 Years and 3 Weeks – Alf Neal OAM” was accompanied in the publication by two other of my portraits “Millionaire Castaway – David Glasheen” and “Neville Henry – Kowanyama”, under the title “Australians” over a two page spread (see top below).

The hard copy publication really feels more like a book than a magazine … stout card cover and ultra heavy weight paper throughout the 96 pages … beautiful simple layout showing the work at it’s finest … and no advertising whatsoever. A pure pleasure to be included …

You may see all the AAP Portrait Awards collected works in the magazine here … https://www.all-about-photo.com/photo-articles/photo-article/1886/aap-magazine-48-portrait-photography-competition-winners-announced

AAP Mag also recently included my work “Generations – Aurukun” in their just published collection “Best Modern Photographers of September 2025” and it may be viewed here … https://www.all-about-photo.com/photo-articles/photo-article/1948/best-modern-photographers-of-september-2025 .

Big Thanks to Sandrine at AAP Photo !

Below is an image of the AAP “Portrait” magazine showing my image spread and the mag title … and an Instagram screen grab of a AAP “Best Modern Photographers of September 2025” page featuring “Generations – Aurukun”. Images © Brian Cassey

Massive ‘Alf’ at Arles, France … Next … Valencia, Spain …

August 3, 2025August 3, 2025

… fabulous to be part of a major portrait photography exhibition in Arles, France … with my work “100 Years & 3 Weeks – Alf Neal OAM” exhibited over two and a half metres high overlooking the majestic Rhone River bank.

‘Alf’ wasn’t on his own … the river side walls were covered with scores of large images by the best portrait photographers from around the planet which made up the Art-Icon exhibit “Faces” (“Visages”) …. a major draw card in the just concluded 2025 Arles International Photo Festival (Rencontres d’Arles).

Sadly unable to travel to France for the show, It has been my real pleasure to vicariously enjoy it via the many photographers, both “Faces” participants and festival guests, who were lucky enough to ‘be there’ and nice enough to post images of the works very literally ‘on the walls’.

Good friends, Head On Photo Festival director Moshe Rosenzveig OAM and Pulitzer winner Michael Robinson Chávez, were attending the festival in Arles and took time out to make and send me pics of the exhibition and my ‘Alf’ work … whilst many of the “Faces” artists in attendance also splashed images around social media for those unable to get there ( See images below 🙂 ).

The good news continues … the fantastic exhibition of photographic portraiture now moves on to the French town of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the Camargue National Park later in August before travelling to Spain for the Valencia Photo Festival for September and October.

‘Alf’ sure does get around …

There is also a physical pictorial book of the “Faces” portrait exhibition in the works.

Once again I’d like to thank Danila Tkachenko and Slavica Veselinovic (@shavi_veselinovic) from Art-Icon for their tireless work creating this massive exhibition of poraiture and taking it to the World.

Images (from top) ©Brian Cassey, ©Michael Robinson Chávez, ©Moshe Rosenvzeig OAM (all featuring my ‘Alf’ image) … and ©Costa Corbas (the “Faces” exhibition on the banks of the Rhone River.) … Thanks Guys!

“Kennedy’s” … Australian Media’s Night of Nights …

July 30, 2025July 28, 2025

… Yay ! Great News … selected as one of three Finalists in the “Kennedy Awards” … “Outstanding Portrait Photography” category. The prestigious awards describe themselves as “a truly independent, national celebration of the best Australian journalism … the Australian media’s night of nights”.

The black tie awards presentation dinner is in the very plush surrounds of the Ballroom, Royal Randwick, Sydney on August 15th.

Sounds very flash … and yeah … will be packing the ‘whistle ’n’ flute’ and winging it down to Sydney for a couple of (likely dangerous) days meeting up with many photographer and journalist friends and colleagues.

You’ve likely seen my selected finalist image before in earlier posts ( here, here and here ) … and it’s described below so I won’t bombard you with it again.

Big Congrats also to the other photography finalists … good friends and colleagues all … David Gray, Nicholas Moir, Mick Tsikas, Carly Earl, Elise Derwin, Flavio Brancaleone, Darrien Traynor and Bronwen Healy.

Will let you know how it all goes … will be a BLAST …

A Catalyst 40 Years Ago … “Australian Sports Photo of the Year” …

October 27, 2025June 22, 2025

… blimey … FORTY years ago as a young pup I was awarded my first photo prize as the (highly unexpected) winner of the “Australian Sports Photo of the Year” !

Sponsored by Kodak and Adidas in 1985, it was the inaugural edition of the awards celebrating Australia’s best sports images with a very large cash prize, a weeks holiday on the Gold Coast and photo product for the lucky winner … me ! 🙂 .

The announcement and prize presentation was televised from Melbourne as a part of the “Australian Sports Star of the Year” awards. I had to buy a suit and tie (and SHOES) to attend 😉 !

It was a massive shock to win, especially as the other two finalists were staff photographers from the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age (who weren’t too pleased that a little ‘nobody’ from tiny Cairns had pipped ‘em ).

The winning pic (below) of gun Cairns skier Steve Hook mid slalom on Trinity Inlet Cairns was made on film with a Nikon FM2 and a squeeze focus Novoflex 200mm lens. (I was long a big fan of the squeezey focus Novoflex glass … 200, 280, 400 & 600mm.)

My win was a catalyst for lots of interest from the news media and picture editors … and, in effect, was the precursor to the expansion of my photography into more challenging and rewarding press work and photojournalism.

This image was a feature of my 2017/2018 exhibition “A Photographer’s Life – Part One” and also features in my hard cover large format collectors book “A Photographer’s Life – Part One & Part Two” available here.

Many Thanks to Steve Hook, brother Howard and the others of the Cairns waterski fraternity of the time. Big Thanks also to John Croucher of the Cairns Yacht Club who nagged me incessantly to enter into a photo prize for the first time.

(Nb … if you fancy water skiing on Trinity Inlet in this day and age the crocodiles would make short work of you !)

Image © Brian Cassey @brian_cassey … Kodak/adidas Australian Sports Photo of the Year 1985

Pollux Awards … Another Nice Win …

May 18, 2025May 14, 2025

… SO nice ! … very happy to be announced a winner in the 22nd International Pollux Awards with my image “Millionaire Castaway – David Glasheen”. Fifth year in a row I’ve had the honour of winning the major Pollux gong in People … and each time also awarded extra Honourable Mentions as well :-).

My portrait of 82 year old Restoration Island castaway and former business tycoon David Glasheen will be exhibited on the walls of the new Mediterranean House of Photography (formerly the FotoNostrum Gallery) in Barcelona, Spain in the first quarter 2026.

I made the portrait of David following his discharge from hospital after earlier suffering a heart attack. He plans to return to life on isolated Restoration Island when fully recovered.

The Hon Mentions selected are “Unsculpted – Artist Tony Clark” … and … “The Kids of Ali Curung”.

It’s also first time ‘recognitions’ for both the Millionaire Castaway and Tony Clark’s Unsculpted works … very gratifying …

My previous ‘People’ winners in the past four Pollux award seasons were … “The Last Image of Alf” (Alf Neal OAM – 21st Pollux) … “George at the Bus Stop” (George Skeene OAM – 20th Pollux) … both “100 Years & 3 Weeks – Alf Neal OAM” and “Do Not Resuscitate – Peter ‘Potter’ Thompson” (19th Pollux) … and “Covid Vax & Ice Cream – Leanne Bulmer” (18th Pollux) .

All three newly selected works are here below … Thanks to David, Tony and the kids of Ali Curung.

Images © Brian Cassey

22nd Pollux International Awards - People - Winner "Millionaire Castaway - David Gasheen" - & Honourable Mentions X 2 - "Unsculpted - Artist Tony Clark" & "The Kids of Ali Curung" - images by Brian Cassey

‘Fine Art’ … and Dodho …

February 9, 2025

Not an extinct flightless bird, Dodho publishes “Dodho Magazine” … in their words “one of the most influential online contemporary photography magazines, committed to discovering and promoting the best photographers around the world”.

So … was excellent to again be selected in the “Dodho Fine Art” awards and see one of my favourite images … “Mother Africa – Aurora” … grace the wonderful Dodho large format hard cover fine art awards book.

This was only the second edition of the fine art awards and pleased to say that another of my images … “Bonn – Asking the Question” … was selected in the inaugural awards last year (see second image below). Dodho now also hosts other awards each year … and I also have had work selected … twice each … in their “Portrait Awards” and “Color Awards”. Getting quite a nice little collection of fine award photo books !

Dodho really do do a fine job of promoting a great variety of International photography. Do look out for them …

By the way … “Mother Africa” is large front and centre in my current exhibition “A Photographer’s Life – Part 3 – Portraits” … open now at the Mulgrave Gallery, Esplanade, Cairns until the 29th February.

Images © Brian Cassey

Dodho Magazine Fine Art Awards 2024 -"Boon - Asking the Question" - image © by Brian Cassey

Duncan Miller Gallery … Los Angeles …

February 22, 2025February 6, 2025

… pretty stoked that my image “Aurukun – Generations” has been selected and listed for sale by the prestigious Duncan Miller Gallery in the United States.

The gallery and their web portal Your Daily Photograph (https://www.yourdailyphotograph.com) specialises in the sale of “important classic and contemporary photographic works of art” … and are the owner of the largest collection of vintage photographs on the West Coast of America. They have subscribers and potential purchasers in 75 countries.

You may see the work on their YDP site here … http://eepurl.com/i829Xw
My work is apparently in very good company … in the recent past images by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Andreas Gursky, Richard Misrach, Andre Kertesz, Edward Burtynsky and other photography legends have been offered for sale on YourDailyPhotograph.

The portrait of Aurukun Wik elders Silas and Rebecca Wolmby with their great grand children Shalona and Keola was made outside their house in the Cape York Peninsula indigenous community. It has featured numerous times in awards across the last few years … arguably the most stella being ‘sent into space’ and projected above the planet courtesy of the British Journal of Photography “Portrait of Humanity” awards … and published in the book collection of the same name.

My first sale at Duncan Miller Gallery was back in 2012 with my “Rajasthan Dancers” photograph, made in Udaipur, Rajasthan, India in 2011 (image below).

Images © Brian Cassey

The Passing of George Skeene OAM … and Tokyo …

January 14, 2025

… bitter, sweet and emotional to receive this 😞 …

Just a couple of days after the saddest news on January 3rd of the passing of Yirrganydji (Cairns) elder Dr George Skeene OAM, I received the email that my work … “George at the Bus Stop – George Skeene OAM” … had scored an Honorable Mention in the Portrait category of the ‘Tokyo International Foto Awards’ (TIFA).

George … who I fortuitously met at a Cairns bus stop in June 2023 … was a true delight to meet and photograph … a real gentleman.

Was a Friday lunch time when I saw a distinguished man sitting quietly at the Cairns Central bus stop. Said ‘Hi’ … we exchanged pleasantries and I asked ‘George’ how far away his bus was … the board said eight minutes … and if I may make a quick portrait. George was fine with that so I raced back to my car a block away to grab a decent camera. We chatted very briefly whilst I made a few frames and it turns out that George was, in fact, Yirrganydji Elder Dr George Skeene OAM.

Of course, the bus arrived early and George told me his info was on the web … and off he went. Our interaction lasted a very pleasant six or seven minutes …

Fascinating to find Dr George on the web and learn the details of his stellar career. George grew up in Aboriginal reserves in Cairns and made it his life’s work to document his Yirrganydji cultural heritage.

He traced and catalogued Yirrganydji artefacts that were spirited to Germany in the early 1900’s, wrote a book “Two Cultures” about the Cairns aboriginal camps, arranged for the return and reburial in Cairns of the remains of a Yirrganydji woman held at the Queensland Museum … and there is much more of his exploits ‘on the web’.

George was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters at James Cook University in 2013 and the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2016.

I presented him with a print of his portrait whilst he was undergoing treatment at Cairns Hospital late last year. That same portrait also features in my new exhibition opening next Friday at the Mulgrave Gallery. George joins others on that exhibition wall that are no longer with us … and I will pay tribute to all of them at the opening. It will be emotional …

Don’t think I’ll ever forget that memorable fleeting bus stop meeting with George … and was devastated to hear of his demise from his daughter just over a week ago. Thank You George … you will be very sorely missed.

Also scored a second TIFA Honorable Mention (this time Editorial category) with my image of Bill & Michelle Dunn after surviving the massive post Cyclone Jasper flood event that almost took their lives.

You’ve likely seen both these pics previously … and for that I apologise …

Whilst on … must also congratulate photographer good friend Emese Gyalog who scored a TIFA ‘Gold’ in wedding and a HN in Fine Art … nice two Em !

Images © Brian Cassey

Nice Chrissie Presents from … Budapest (BIFA), The Capture Awards and Dodho Color Awards …

March 1, 2025December 29, 2024

… nice early Xmas pressies from the ‘Budapest International Foto Awards’ (BIFA), ‘The Capture Awards’ (hosted by Capture Magazine) and the ‘Dodho Color Awards’ 2024 (hosted by Dodho Magazine.)

The first two featured great results for my image “Alive – Bill & Michell’s Miraculous Escape From Cyclone Jasper”, which only a few weeks ago also took out the Clarion Awards (Queensland Media awards) ‘Best News Photograph’ honours.

Bill & Michell’s emotional image post Cyclone Jasper flooding was selected for the Bronze Award in the Editorial category of the Budapest International Foto Awards … and also in the top images list of the Documentary category of the Capture Awards and featuring in the new Summer edition of the print magazine.

Also in the Budapest awards, it was really gratifying to also see “Little Tuna” get a mention (an Honourable one – spelt here with a ‘u’ 😉 ) … the first time my portrait of “Little Tuna” proprietor Kate Lamason with one of her ‘family’, has been recognised in awards. The portrait was made in the office of Kate’s highly successful Australian caught tuna business in Cairns and producing the pic left her work place more than a little damp.

Accompanying Bill & Michelle in the Capture Awards were two of my images “George at the Bus Stop” (George Skeene OAM) and “Bubblegum & Voices” (Kythie Yunkaporta discovering bubbles in Aurukun) in the People & Portrait category. Both have been mentioned in previous awards.

Then … on Christmas eve the beautiful new Dodho book “Color” arrived in my post office box. The hard cover, large format, nicely printed volume showcases the winners and top works from the 2024 “Color Awards” … and included my portrait “Generations- Aurukun” of Aurukun Elders Silas and Rebecca Wolmby with their great grand children Shalona and Keola. Dodho do do lovely books 😉 .

Images © Brian Cassey … from top … Budapest International Foto Awards 2024 (BIFA), The Capture Awards 2024, the book “Colors” by Dodho Magazine – hard cover collection of the best photographs from the 2024 Dodho Color Awards.

TWO at the Clarion Awards …

January 7, 2025December 1, 2024

… utterly chuffed to win the two major photography prizes at last eves “The Clarion Awards” (Queenslands Media Awards) in Brisbane … Best News Photo for “Alive – Bill & Michell’s Miraculous Escape From Jasper” … & … Best Photographic Essay for “Jasper Brings Once in a Century Flooding”.
A terrific evening amongst many media colleagues and friends old and some new. Well worth the trip from the tropics to the big city ;-).

The night really was a reminder that the media industry is still alive and kicking …. the work of the category winners was a real credit to all … and I was extremely gratified to be just a part of it.

Thank You to the MEAA (especially the Queensland branch) for continuing to organise such a great media event.

First image below is my winning Best News Photo … a work that is very close to my heart. Thank You Bill and Michelle from Degarra who put up with me at an extremely fragile time of their lives … to The Australian pic editors Michael Bilbe-Taylor and Milan Scepanovic who entrusted me with a very difficult and complicated assignment … and to gun journo Michael McKenna who did a great job of crafting the story via a very crackly phone line.

The following twelve images is my winning photo essay … made from when Jasper first reared it’s destructive head, through the record breaking rain falls and on to the start of ‘recovery’.

Oh yeah … the judges comments are there too at the bottom.

(Must also mention my medical mate Dr Richard Jackman who managed to get me back out working during the cyclone event after a busted vertebrae incurred during a rain sodden stair fall 🙂 )

Images © Brian Cassey @brian_cassey

The Artist Gallery … Portraits from around the Globe …

December 12, 2024November 28, 2024

Nice email with news overnight … a new one for me and the first time I’ve entered … “The Artist Gallery Portrait Awards”.

Twenty one portraits from around the world were awarded … four winners and seventeen ‘Honorable Mentions’, including an HM for my work “The Yarrick Family of Kunhanhaa”, made on Mornington Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

The Artist Gallery suggests that their awards “Showcase the photographers ability to turn fleeting moments into timeless works of art. The winners and honourable mentions who have masterfully turned their lenses toward the soul, creating images that inspire, move, and remind us of the stories behind every face.”

The overall winning work was from Turkey … a brilliant and emotional image “The Bitter Face of War” by Erçin Ertürk.

The 21 selected winners and honourable mention portraits originated from Australia, Italy, UK, Malta, Spain, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Norway, Germany, Israel, United Arab Emirates, USA, Austria, Mexico and The Netherlands.

Australia was represented three times … congrats to the other Aussie based artist Andrea Francolini who had two in the selection, with my image “The Yarrick Family of Kunhanhaa” being the third.

My Yarrick family image has been good to me, previously winning the “Nikon-Walkley Portrait Prize”, second in the “International Portrait Photographer of the Year” and a dozen other accolades.

Image © Brian Cassey

Tuesday … 69th Walkley Awards …

November 24, 2024November 24, 2024

So … what does one do on a Tuesday night in November ? Last Tuesday I made a flying 30 hour visit back to Sydney to attend the media industries ‘night of nights’ … The Walkley Awards … at the International Convention Centre (ICC).

The catalyst for the lightening short visit was the inclusion of my work (stills, video and drone) in the Courier/Sunday Mail team documentary production “Prayed Upon: A Real Life Hand Maid’s Tale” which was selected as a Finalist in the ‘News – Current Affairs – Short Film’ category of the awards.

Our team … comprising Kate Kyriacou, Greg Stolz, Rhylea Millar, Natalie Gregg, Melanie Pilling, Anna Caldwell and myself … were up against works in the category by co-finalists 60 Minutes and the ABC. Our teams work told the story of a frightening ‘cult’ based on the Atherton Tablelands in far north Queensland.

Was the first time I’ve had the privilege to be a finalist in the Walkley Awards outside of the pure ‘photojournalism’ Nikon-Walkley categories side of things … so that was a little different.

Very kindly, Nikon Australia’s marketing manager Kylie Dredge arranged a seat at the Nikon tables for myself alongside my photography friends and colleagues and the Nikon crew. That was a blast !

Good mates all … AFP’s David Gray took out the ‘News Photography Award’ with his remarkable 20,000 ASA image of freed Julian Assange “Walk to Freedom”, SMH’s Nick Moir won ‘Press Photographer of the Year’, Getty’s Quinn Rooney claimed the ‘Sports Photography’ gong for “Australian’s in the Pool”, whilst Kate Geraghty (SMH) was awarded ‘Nikon Photo of the Year’ for her image, “Funeral at Al-Aqsa”. Getty’s Diego Fedele won ‘Feature/photographic Essay’ and Chris Hopkins image for ‘Good Weekend’ won the ‘Portrait Prize’.

Obviously there was much ‘celebrating’ to do. The Nikon team led by Kylie duly obliged and made sure we did so well into the next morning. Congrats to all my mates and colleagues … winners and finalists … the Walkley’s and the MEAA … and thanks to all at Nikon. (It’s been a pleasure to use Nikon’s fabulous products for many decades … they really do so much to support the photojournalists in the industry.)

Oh Yes !! Back to our ‘Current Affairs’ finalist selection. Sadly we were beaten to the pen nib winners trophy by the ’60 Minutes’ entry, but that didn’t stop our Queensland team celebrating just being in Sydney for a fabulous eve amongst the very best of Australia’s media.

(NB … it’s not often my dinner suit gets an airing 😉 )

16 Photos That Changed the Way We See the World …

October 3, 2024September 9, 2024

Proud as punch and super overwhelmed to be included in a collection of photographs published last week by the ‘Head On Foundation’ entitled “16 Photos that changed the way we see the World”.

To say my 2016 image of asylum seeker “Abdullatif” in detention on Papua New Guinea is good enough to be in the amazing company of the work in this collection is a vast overstatement ( I think that’s right 😉 ).

The collection is chock a block full of truly historic and iconic photographs … images that are embedded in most peoples memories … Nick Ut’s napalm girl ‘The Terror of War”(1972), Joe Rosenthal’s “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima” (1945), Robert Capa’s “Falling Soldier (1936), Malcolm Browne’s “Burning Monk” (1963), Thomas Hoepker’s brilliant “9/11” (2001), David Scherman’s “Lee Miller in Hitlers Bath” (1945) … and … without listing them all … other legendary works by current International legends … Ben Lowy, Ron Haviv, Paula Bronstein, Lynsey Addario and Australian’s Merv Bishop, Stephen Dupont and Kate Geraghty. You can see them all here … https://headon.org.au/magazine/16-photos-that-changed-the-way-we-see-the-world

Then … and it was the shock of my life … at number four … between Ben Lowy and Nick Ut’s startling work … was my pic and the story of “Abdullatif”. Head On described the rationale for the complete set thus … “Photojournalists have captured images that have continued to shape our world to this very day. We are highlighting some of the most impactful of these images, showcasing their history and investigating their continuing legacy.”

One of the nicest surprises of my decades wielding cameras. (If I had been sitting on a chair I would have fallen off it !).

Please don’t miss seeing this amazing collection of fabulous unforgettable photojournalism (even though you likely know them all anyway 😉 ). Thank You Head On Foundation !

Trinity Bay High School … Portrait Prize Number 9 …

September 8, 2024September 8, 2024

I’ve said it eight times before … and now year number 9 !

Under the tutelage of the visual arts teachers at Trinity Bay High School, Cairns … these teen photography students are amazing.

For the past eight years of judging I’ve been fascinated and oft times stunned by the effort and creativity that these high school students put into their annual photographic portrait prize entries.

This year was definitely no exception … and the rivalry and quality of their works were closer than ever. The 58 images they produced ranged from sultry classical black and white portraits to seriously colourful photographic abstract representations … and just about everything in between. Great to see that almost everyone had moved away from the ‘snap’ shot and constructed their entries with great thought, a story line and a connection to their subject … with a dose of photographic skill mixed in.

It took me overnight to make the judging decision … and separating the top three contenders was a torturous task. Eventually I settled on these (below … from top then left to right).

Overall Winner – Jesse Boyle with ‘Lostin’ ‘ … 2nd Prize – Antonia Kaufmann with ‘Shadows of Thoughts’ … 3rd Prize – Zane Thaddeus MacFarlane with ‘Bro Sobbing’ … Highly Commended X 3 – Azuma Said with ‘Echoes of Emptiness’, Maddalena Scalco with ’The Smile of 90 Years of Happiness’ and Jean Paul itembaya with ‘Past Reflections’. The Peoples Choice Award went to Theris Vakaruru with ‘Dallas’.

Jesse’s enigmatic subtle winning portrait caught the eye … and just clung on to it … and he was deservedly presented with a Canon 1500D DSLR with a 18-55mm lens sponsored by Garricks Camera House. (Of note was Maddalena’s ‘The Smile of 90 Years of Happiness’ work. Despite lacking some technicality and compositional skill it was an image that couldn’t help but make you smile 🙂 )

I’ll let you make up your own mind about these great portraits (below) created by the talented Trinity Bay High School students.

You can view all the TBHS students winning works from the past eight years by clicking here…2023 … 2022 … 2021 … 2020 … 2019 … 2018 … 2017 … 2016 …

Bring on the decade in 2025 😉

Images © the student artists … Jesse Boyle, Antonia Kaufmann, Zane Nguyen-Pung, Azuma Smid, Maddalena Scalco, Jean-Paul Itembaya, Theris Vakaruru .

Silver in Paris … But Not In The Olympics …

August 19, 2024

… it’s the … 2024 Prix De La Photographie De Paris … Paris Photo Prize … or PX3 for short.

PX3 is arguably the most prestigious and largest annual photography prize in Europe … so it was excellent when an email dropped in on the weekend with two pieces of excellent news.

The major item of news was the announcement that my image “George at the Bus Stop – Dr George Skeene OAM” … had been awarded SILVER in the ‘Portrait’ section of the prizes. I momentarily came across George at a Cairns bus stop and managed a few portraits before his bus whisked him away. Sadly, George is currently in ill health and I do hope this recognition cheers him up somewhat. You may read more about George and our encounter … and the previous awards his portrait has featured in by visiting … https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/blog/images/2023/06/george-at-the-bus-stop/ … and … https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/awards/

Also in the email was the news that my work “Escaping Cyclone Jasper Alive – Bill & Michelle” received an Honorable Mention, also in ‘Portrait’. Bill and Michelle are lucky to be alive after surviving the Cyclone Jasper flood event. Their story of being swept from their Degarra home of 45 years and clinging to trees for ten hours in the midst of a once in a hundred year flood is both fascinating and frightening … and you may find more details of their ordeal and survival here … https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/blog/images/2024/01/bill-michelle-cyclone-jasper/

Massive Thanks and respect to my subjects who were … and still are … going through very difficult times in their lives. I seriously respect you all for your patience and understanding in allowing me the opportunity.

Of course … thanks also to PX3 for the giving my work some ‘air’ 🙂 .

Little Tuna & Galah …

August 18, 2024

Good to get a nice run in ‘Galah’ … an independent print magazine documenting regional Australia and the people who live there … with story and images of a small Cairns business “Little Tuna”.

Published three times a year and beautifully produced ‘Galah’ magazine is full of fascinating stories and beautiful photography from around rural and remote Australia … the ‘stuff’ that these days is otherwise forgotten by other media.

My contribution to the current issue is images to accompany a story on “Little Tuna” … a small locally operated far north Queensland seafood business founded by director Kate Lamason. The story is entitled “This Little Tuna Went to Market” and explains her mission to make in-roads into the almost exclusive sales of foreign fished and produced tuna with her bottled premium preserved tuna sourced from Australian waters.

The jars of 100 percent Australian wild line caught tuna steaks are available in four flavours … Olive Oil, Chilli in Olive Oil, Spring Water and Lemon Myrtle … either in store or online. Kate and her products have won several business awards … and she is one of the finalists in the Australian AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award with the winner announced in Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday. Good Luck, Kate !

Sadly, ‘Galah’ chose not to include my very favourite image of Kate and a tuna amongst their published set … so I’m using that pic here below. Had some fun making Kate’s office rather ‘damp’ for the day.

Dodho Published Again … & Looking Good at the Percival’s …

July 21, 2024

Nice chunky parcel dropped into my PO box this week. Inside was the Dodho Magazines hard cover book of the works selected as Finalists in the 2024 Dodo Portrait Prize. A really nice publication and collection …

So pleased to find that my image of Kuranda based artist Peter “Potter” Thompson (top) looking great across a whole page. If anyone deserves the recognition it’s Peter and the image title … “Do Not Resuscitate – Peter ‘Potter’ Thompson” … may give a clue to why.

A Master Ceramicist, Peter ‘Potter’ Thompson has been working the kilns in the Kuranda rainforest studio that he has called home for over fifty years. Peter – amongst Australia’s most accomplished practitioners of wood-fired kiln pottery – is something of a miracle having survived three heart attacks over his career producing imaginative Asian/Taoist inspired works that have graced galleries far and wide. On his pace maker heart chest is tattooed ’N F Resuscitare’ (‘Do Not Resuscitate’) and his blood group – a testament to his dry sense of humour.

This image of Peter has also been recognised in the 2024 Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA), the 2023 Pollux International Awards and Australia’s Capture Awards. Thanks Peter !

Recently I also visited the Perc Tucker Gallery in Townsville where three of my other images graced the walls in the Percival Photographic Portrait Prize … “George at the Bus Stop – Dr George Skeene OAM”, “Last of the Trochus Divers – Albert ‘Boyo’ Ware” and “100 Years & 3 Weeks – Alf Neal OAM” (see the other two pics below). The Townsville council host a fabulous show of portrait photography which is accompanied by the works of artists who prefer to use paints … The Percival Portrait Prize. Both shows are worth some time exploring and are open until September 1st.

Barcelona & the Pollux Awards …

May 14, 2024

… very welcome news from Barcelona this morning regarding the 21st Pollux Awards … the prestigious International photography prize hosted by famed Spanish based FotoNostrum Magazine. Even better is that the news involves three of my (at the moment) lesser known works.

“The Last Image of Alf … Alf Neal OAM” has, up to now, been somewhat overshadowed by another earlier image I made of Alf on his hundredth birthday with his great great grandson Kailan … “100 Years & 3 Weeks … Alf Neal OAM” … which has been recognised numerous times around the planet and in Australia.

So it was a gratifying experience to see the portrait of my old mate Alf … made on the verandah of his Yarrabah home in the last days of his one hundred and first and final year … selected as the ‘Winner’ of Pollux ‘People’ category. I know that Alf, if he was still around, would be immensely proud … and I’m sure that his Yarrabah family will be too.

The ‘icing on the cake’ is that two of my so far ‘unsung’ images … “Voices & Bubblegum … Aurukun” & “Surviving Cyclone Jasper … Bill & Michelle” … were both awarded ‘Honorable Mentions’ in the same ‘People’ category … a nice ‘triple’ 🙂 . The ‘Bubblegum’ pic was made at ‘Indigenous Voice to Parliament’ referendum pre-polling in Aurukun, when young Kythie Yunkaporta was more enthralled with the bubblegum skills of Shuntay Marpoodin. The image of Bill and Michelle Dunn was made as they told their harrowing story of survival at their Degarra (Bloomfield) home destroyed in the massive flooding that followed Cyclone Jasper.

The Pollux Awards have been good to me over the years … and this is the fourth year in a row that I’ve been fortunate to be selected as ‘Winner’ of the ‘People’ category (earlier ‘wins’ … 20th Edition here 19th Edition here, 18th Edition here ).

One of the nicest things about the Pollux Awards is that the winners works do end up as physical framed photographs on a wall … the very prestigious walls of the FotoNostrum Gallery, Mediterranean House of Photography, in Barcelona, Spain. That will happen from July 2025 … (a nice time to be in Barcelona and Spain 😉 ? ).

Very nice also to be in the good company of my US photojournalist mate and Pulitzer Prize winner, Michael Robinson Chavez, whose work was selected in the Pollux ‘Documentary & Reportage’ category.

You may find all of this years Pollux Awards winners in a special edition FotoNostrum Magazine here … https://www.fotonostrummag.com/21-pollux … my work is on pages 64 & 65, whilst Michael Robinson Chavez’s works are on page 116.

International Color Awards … Second, Third and More …

November 16, 2024May 1, 2024

… great news on Sunday that TWO of my images have each been awarded “2nd Place Merit of Excellence” and “3rd Place Honor of Distinction” in the 17th edition of the “International Color Awards” … “Drying Saris on the Banks of the Ganges” in ‘Photojournalism’ … and … “George at the Bus Stop” in ‘Portrait’.

Really, REALLY pleased about the ‘Saris’ image which I made in Varanasi on a totally memorable road trip journey through India with a couple of great photographer colleagues far too many years ago. It’s always been one of my personal favourite photographs, but this is the first time it has been recognised as something a little ‘special’. Thanks ICA !

Of course … it’s also very nice to see an image grabbed in just a minute or two whilst passing a Cairns bus stop one lunch time can mix it at the top end and also gain a 3rd Place Honor of Distinction. Thanks Dr George Skeene OAM !

Not to be forgotten, two more of my works also resonated … with “100 Years & 3 Weeks – Alf Neal OAM” handed an Honorable Mention … and “Crocodile Hunter George Craig” a Finalist Nomination … both in the ‘Portrait’ category.

You may find the first, second and third placed winners (and Honorable Mentions) in ‘Photojournalism’ … here … https://photoshow.colorawards.com/winners.php?x=p&cid=590 … and ‘Portrait’ here … https://photoshow.colorawards.com/winners.php?x=p&cid=591 … and also nice to see young photojournalist and my 2023 Head On Photo Festival photojournalism talk co-presenter Mouneb Taim get one too !

Gotta be happy with that …

Triple in Percival Portrait Prize …

April 30, 2024

… in news this month … so pleased that all three of my entries in the Percival Portrait Prize were selected as ‘Finalists’.

The three works … “Last of the Trochus Divers – Albert ‘Boyo’ Ware” , “George at the Bus Stop – Dr George Skeene OAM” and “100 Years & 3 Weeks – Alf Neal OAM” … all made the cut and will be exhibited on the beautiful walls of the historic Perc Tucker Gallery in Townsville.

Overall winners of the fiscal prizes (in painting, photographic and student) will be announced at the exhibition opening eve event on the Saturday 22nd June . Sounds pretty good to me … the last one two years ago (with subject Aurora in tow as mentioned in a recent post) was highly enjoyable.

It’s also the third time in a row that I have had all three entries selected as finalists in the prestigipus biennial awards. You may find the works here … 2024, 2022, 2020. In the 2018 edition … my first attempt … I made two entries and both were selected.

Townsville council really turns it on for the Percival opening eve at Perc Tucker on their mall … and I’ll definitely be making the trek to our southern neighbour for the night.

The exhibition will run until the 1st of September at the Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Corner of Flinders and Denham Streets, Townsville.

Thanks, of course, to my subjects … Albert, George and the sadly late Alf (Thanks Neal family !) Exceptional gentlemen All …