Photographs

Huli woman in Tari - the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Image © Brian Cassey

Portraits

Portraits of characters, celebrities and people in the news – from around the planet and Australia.

Covid Vax & Ice Cream

Door to Door Covid-19 vaccination program and free ice cream in the indigenous community of Yarrabah.

"Hong Kong Cage Homes" - images by Brian Cassey. 74 year old former cooly Tai Lun Po stands at his 6 foot by 2 and a 1/2 foot cage in a stack of three in a room shared by eleven other 'cage people'.

Cage Dwellers of Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s infamous lowest cost housing – the ‘Cage Home’ – and the residents who exist in them.

Ivan Bamboo is recovering from a methalated spirits binge in a derelict squat in the main street of Mossman far north Queensland. Image © Brian Cassey

Indigenous Australia

Images from Indigenous communities on Cape York, Torres Strait and northern Australia.

Inside Abandoned Manus

Abandoned by Australia, over 600 refugees attempt to survive inside Lombrum detention centre in Papua New Guinea.

"Drying Saris on the Banks of the Ganges"© image Brian Cassey

India In an Ambassador

Images from a road trip to central India in a once ubiquitous, fast disappearing, Ambassador taxi.

Cyclone Yasi

A photo essay on the massively destructive visit to north Queensland by category 5 Cyclone Yasi.

$Papua New Guinea Tsunami 1998. Tsunami victims await a rescue helicopter from the village of Sissano. Coretta Yorenti (cantre) suffered a fractured skull. Image © Brian Cassey$

Tsunami

Images from the tsunami disasters in Asia (2004 Thailand & Indonesia) & Papua New Guinea (1998). WARNING – Graphic Images

Aak Puul Ngantam Stockman

Portraits of the Aak Puul Ngantam mustering crew as they return exhausted to their camp on Cape York Peninsula.

Mustering wild cattle at Bluewater near Aurukun by the Aak Puul Ngantam (APN Cape York) indigenous team - images © by Brian Cassey

Cattle Muster – Cape York

The work of the Aak Puul Ngantam Cape York team as they muster wild cattle by helicopter, quad bike and on horseback.

No doubt about it … the train journey from Kandy to Ella Sri Lanka is the most fun you can have on a train (with your clothes on). The near seven hour trundle up mountains (to near 2000 metres) through tea plantations and tiny hamlets and wonderful scenery … is pretty spectacular. Both locals and foreigners hang out the doors and windows … tourists chat, skylark and play cards with Sri Lankans … hawkers walk up and own the carriages selling tasty Sri Lankan food. Great experience … and only costs a couple of bucks. What more could you want … Image © Brian Cassey

Singles

A selection of my favourite news, editorial, street images and more, which stand on their own.

"Life in Coffin Homes Hong Kong" - images by Brian Cassey - Wong Tat Ming inside his 5 and a half foot by 2 and a half foot Coffin Home with all his possessions at North Point Hong Kong

Life in a Coffin – Hong Kong

“Coffin Homes” – a low cost housing manifestation in Hong Kong where poverty has reached above 20%.

Homeless people gathered at Seoul Railway Station face eviction in the South Korean Capital - images by Brian Cassey

Soulless in Seoul

South Korea rail network Korail threaten to evict hundreds of homeless from Seoul Railway Station.

Tram – Hong Kong

The historic Hong Kong tram as a trundling advertising canvas – seemingly at odds with it’s passengers.

American Independence Day - July 4th 2014 - in the coastal community of Half Moon Bay just south of San Francisco California. A day for American's to celebrate the things that they hold dear.The Half Moon Bay parade unites the community - anyone can participate. Tie a US flag round your dog (or goat) and you can march with the others. The local Librarians perform a syncronised routine with their decorated book trolleys . The locals of Mexican descent parade down Main Street on their high stepping Andalusian horses to the sounds of Mariachi bands. Candy is liberally thrown from floats to the scrambling kids in the crowd. Those that don't participate line Main Street, sing, cheer and wave the Stars and Stripes. Sadly celebrations such as the Half Moon Bay affair are slowly fading from the American landscape as finances become tighter and community values change. This year Half Moon Bat posted the following to their web site ... a message that is being echoed across the US ... "Unfortunately, due to lack of funds and community support, there will not be fireworks for 2014 in Half Moon Bay. The American Legion will not be organising fireworks in the future." Images © Brian Cassey

4th July USA

Traditional Independence Day July 4th parade in the small community of Half Moon Bay south of San Francisco California US of A

India – Redux – 2016

Images from a later edit of the work from a journey through Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh India. A fresh perspective …

Manus Island – Heaven & Hell

The contrast between the idyllic Manus Island PNG lifestyle and the lives of hundreds of asylum seekers detained there by the Australian Government.

Burlesque Blokes

Melbourne burlesque act MenXclusive interact with the female audience at ‘The Sinners Ball’, Gilligan’s Night Club in Cairns.

The Chinese have long been accused of devouring 'anything that moves' including meals of our beloved canines. However, the fishing village of Sai Kung in the New Territories of Hong Kong has embraced the dog as members of the family with a passion bordering on obsessive. In the 1970s Hong Kong government policy was to actively dissuade the population from having too many children. It worked ... and the human birth rate in Hong Kong is now one of the World's lowest at 1.10 per woman of child bearing age (2010), far below the replacement rate of 2.1. To compensate the locals have taken to spoiling their pet woofers as an integral and substitute part of the family.Sundays sees the locals parading their pooches in prams along the pretty waterfront where they join their human 'parents' for exercise and even join in for lunch at the tables in the seafood restaurants. The town is awash with dog boutiques where you can buy your precious pooch the latest fashions ... and even a doggy bakery where you can buy your canine individual doggy pies and other fresh baked treats.Lavish attention is paid to the grooming of the creatures and competition is fierce ... just like comparing human babies. Images © Brian Cassey

The Dogs of Sai Kung

The dog crazy residents of Hong Kong fishing village Sai Kung on the Sunday promenade with their prized and pampered pooches.

Notorious as Australia’s island detention centre for hundreds of asylum seekers from the Middle East, Asia and northern Africa, Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island has another side … an idyllic tropical paradise nudging the equator. Whilst asylum seekers are incarcerated behind razor wire in the Lombrum detention centre, the lives of Manus islanders continue as it has for centuries. Images © Brian Cassey

The Other Side of Manus

More than just an Australian asylum seeker detention centre, Manus Island PNG is an idyllic island paradise nudging the Equator.

Betel Nut Ban in PNG

Port Moresby Papua New Guinea bans the use and sale of betel nut (baui) that has been a tradition for centuries … despite the economic cost.

It’s said that Australia was built on horse back and the continent has an affinity with all things ’horse’. When the British arrived to colonise Australia one of the first sports they participated in was horse racing. The traditional Australian outback bush horse race meeting is an integral part of the culture of the country. Amateur jockeys ride the local stock horses in once a year race meetings - the highlight of every towns social calendar. Ladies get dressed up in their best ‘frocks’ and compete for the ‘best dressed’, whilst the men bet on the ‘nags’ (horses), drink and talk about the ladies. The stock horses sprint seemingly uncontrolled down the red dirt tracks to the winning post past ramshackle tin buildings built many decades ago. But as the population of Australia migrate from the bush to the cities, money in the countryside has become scarcer and the regulations for horse racing has become stricter and stricter, and the bush race meetings are dwindling in number. Sadly the traditional Australian bush horse race meeting is dying. Many of the smaller communities and townships have run their last race and closed their race tracks. The small township of Almaden in northern Australia (affectionately known as ‘cow town’ with a population of just thirty), fought hard to keep their annual races running. For several years the races were closed due to lack of money but in the early 2000’s Almaden restarted their annual race meeting. Sadly the resurgence didn’t last long and these images are from one of the last meetings held at the historic country race track. Images © Brian Cassey

Bush Races

The last of the Almaden Races, Cape York – a true local outback bush race meeting that has now disappeared into history.

Balinese celebrate the festival of Banyu Pinaruh – a festival of purification and renewal - in the waters of Sanur on the Indonesian island of Bali. Images © Brian Cassey

Banyu Pinaruh – Bali

The Balinese celebration of Banyu Pinaruh – a Festival of purification and renewal in the islands waters.

Aurukun Day

Aurukun indigenous community anniversary celebrations – which included my ‘Aak Puul Ngantam Stockman’ exhibition.

Portraits on a Bus

A photo essay across different countries and cultures on the relationship between the bus passenger and the machines that convey them.

Lion - Dubai Safari Park - Im age © Brian Cassey

Animal Portraits

The world of animals – a selection of portraits of the creatures that share the planet with us humans.

Cairns lawn bowler Edith Gibbs gesticulates to her Townsville opponent at the Stratford Bowls Club Cairns. Image © Brian Cassey

Sport

Fleeting moments across the decades from the fascinating theatre that is the world of Sport.