The Legacy and Images of Bruce Martin … ABC Far North …

One of the saddest and most difficult interviews I’ve faced …

Recently I was asked by ABC Far North ‘Breakfast’ presenter Charlie McKillop If i’d be interested in a short live radio interview on the tragic loss of Aurukun and Wik influential leader Bruce Martin at the age of thirty nine.

I first really met ‘Waal Waal’ … (respectfully ‘The Departed’ during mourning) … eleven years ago, when I covered an Aak Puul Ngantam wild cattle mustering operation on Cape York Peninsula for The Australian newspaper. The near week long coverage meant I spent time around the camp fire listening in awe as ‘Waal Waal’ held court and outlined his future vision for the Wik people of Aurukun. (It was later when I realised that we had, in fact, met fleetingly when I made very wet portraits of him during his water polo days in the mid 2000’s)

I was later honoured when he officially opened my exhibition of images of the mustering operation – “Aak Paul Ngantam Stockman” (including portraits of all the crew) – at The Tanks Arts Centre in Cairns.

Thereafter ‘Waal Waal’ Martin’s career really took off. He became a member of the Prime Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Council and served as a director of the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation.

Our last meeting was an impromptu breakfast (with his home made marmalade) in an Aurukun home a couple of years back.

There are a few links here below which document much more of the potential and life cut so cruelly short … and an image of mine that has become synonymous with that life. I … and many many others … will sorely miss you.

And … Yes … the full audio of the interview with Charlie McKillop on ABC Far North is here directly below too … and runs for around six and a half minutes.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-22/far-north-queensland-remembers-aurukun-wik-man-bruce-martin/102629858

https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/play/2014/02/abc-radio-interview-fiona-sewell-aak-puul-ngantam-stockman/

https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/photographs/aak-puul-ngantam-stockman/

Image © Brian Cassey

TV, Radio … and More … !

An amazing couple of weeks …

It seems that the ‘Portrait of Humanity’ award and projection in ‘space’ of two of my pics hit ‘the spot’ with a variety of media … and I’ve spent some time on interviews with various TV, radio and other media outlets talking about it rather than making new images 🙂

First off the rank was ABC Far North correspondent  Sharnie Kim who did a great job on her ‘Portrait of Humanity’ story for publication on the ABC web site at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-12/carol-mayer-photograph-shortlisted-in-portrait-of-humanity/12335282 . Sharnie not only went into the back story of my two selected images … ‘The Skin I’m In’ and ‘Ramnami’ … but also sourced several other ‘short listed’ pics from other photographers.

Didn’t take long for radio to get in on the act … Sarah Speller interviewed myself ‘live’ on ABC Breakfast Far North (at not the best time very early on a Saturday morn) … and then followed that with another recorded segment on her ‘Sarah’s Spot’ on Cairns Radio 4CA a few days later. If you fancy … here (below) are Sarah’s two radio interviews (roughly near six minutes each).

ABC Breakfast Far North – Radio Interview ‘Portrait of Humanity’ – 5.50

 

Sarah’s Spot – 4CA – Radio Interview ‘Portrait of Humanity’ – 5:52

 

The biggest buzz, however, was the piece on the top rating Channel Ten news program ‘The Project’. Really pleased that the program centred on the my amazing subject, burns survivor Carol Mayer, her strength and her story following the fire tragedy when she was a young mum. Lisa Wilkinson opened The Project’ with the news of the selection of my pic of Carol in the 2020  ‘Portrait of Humanity’ … and I later made a little cameo telling of how the pic came about and our relationship. Carol was amazing throughout the interview … and the comments at the end of the segment by show host Lisa Wilkinson were worth watching alone. The show featured a total of nine of my images of Carol … including, of course, the one chosen for ‘Portrait of Humanity’.

The show ran for 6:28 and can be watched here …

Carol Mayer on ‘The Project’

 

Whilst all this was going on I was also asked to be involved and interviewed for the State Library of Queensland’s ‘Behind the Lens’ series as part of their current exhibition ‘TWENTY – Two Decades of Queensland Photography’. Five of the many photographers who have contributed to SLQ’s headline exhibition were each asked to feature in a series of twenty minute interviews over the next few weeks … and mine was first off the rank. Had a nice long chat with SLQ’s Anna Thurgood … the piece of us chatting was also interspersed with my exhibition images made during Cyclones Winifred, Yasi, Larry, Ita and Ului … and the result was broadcast online last Thursday along with a Q&A. However, you can still catch the entire twenty minute interview here below (sadly without the Q&A) …

State Library of Queensland – ‘Behind the Lens’ – ‘TWENTY – Two Decades of Queensland Photography’

All the above audio and video files may also be played … along with many more from the past … on the ‘Play’ page of my web site at https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/play

Now … back to work making more pictures 🙂

 

‘Portrait of Humanity’ in Space & SLQ ‘TWENTY – Two Decades of Queensland Photography’

A great couple of weeks of interviews regarding my work on various media … ABC, Radio 4CA, Channel Ten’s ‘The Project’ and a 20 minute online video interview at the State Library of Queensland.

The subject matter in most was the 2020 ‘Portrait of Humanity’ short list and award … and the projection in ‘space’ of two of my selected images. The portrait of Carol Mayer … ‘The Skin I’n In’ … was the centre of attention in many … whilst the other selected pic ‘Ramnami’ also received a mention in some.

First off was ABC Far North correspondent  Sharnie Kim who did a great job on her ‘Portrait of Humanity’ story for publication on the ABC web site at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-12/carol-mayer-photograph-shortlisted-in-portrait-of-humanity/12335282 .

Radio followed up  … Sarah Speller interviewed myself ‘live’ on ABC Breakfast Far North (at not the best time very early on a Saturday morn) … and then followed that with another recorded segment on her ‘Sarah’s Spot’ on Cairns Radio 4CA a few days later. If you fancy … here (below) are Sarah’s two radio interviews (roughly near six minutes each).

ABC Breakfast Far North – Radio Interview ‘Portrait of Humanity’ – 5.50

 

Sarah’s Spot – 4CA – Radio Interview ‘Portrait of Humanity’ – 5:52

 

Then TV … a piece on the top rating Channel Ten news program ‘The Project’,  thankfully centred on the my amazing subject burns survivor Carol Mayer. Lisa Wilkinson opened ‘The Project’ with the news of the selection of my pic of Carol in the 2020  ‘Portrait of Humanity’ … and I later had a cameo in the program as Carol otherwise enthralled the presenters and audience . The show featured a total of nine of my Carol images … including, of course, the one chosen for ‘Portrait of Humanity’ … and Carol herself was, without doubt, the star of the show.

The show ran for 6:28 and can be watched here …

Carol Mayer on ‘The Project’

 

At the same time I was also asked to be involved and interviewed for the State Library of Queensland’s ‘Behind the Lens’ series as part of their current exhibition ‘TWENTY – Two Decades of Queensland Photography’. Five of the many photographers who have contributed to SLQ’s headline exhibition were each asked to feature in a series of twenty minute interviews over the next few weeks … and mine was first off the rank. The piece of SLQ’s Anna Thurgood chatting was interspersed with my exhibition images made during Cyclones Winifred, Yasi, Larry, Ita and Ului.

State Library of Queensland – ‘Behind the Lens’ – ‘TWENTY – Two Decades of Queensland Photography’

More info on these recordings, ‘Portrait of Humanity’ and ‘TWENTY – Two Decades of Queensland Photography’ may be found on my  blog post at … https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/blog