Free Palestine … Brisbane …

… a quick weekend visit to Brisbane to attend the ‘Clarion Awards’ (Queensland’s annual media awards bash – more on that in another post) … and to catch up with UQ Uni studying daughter.

Daughter and friend were keen to join the “Free Palestine” rally in central Brisbane … so it seemed a good idea to spend some quality time and also attend and document a very current and important (disturbing) news story.

Thousands gathered to fill King George Square before a spirited march around the Brisbane central business district.  A motorcycle police officer I spoke to said it was the largest rally he’d seen in many many years. Impassioned but incident free, the rally shared the message about the Palestinian peoples several decades long fight for freedom, a homeland and some dignity … sadly to an almost deserted city centre.

Here below are just five of the many images I made at the rally on Saturday afternoon. More from the set may be found on my my Facebook page at … https://www.facebook.com/brian.cassey1 … and/or on my Instagram account at … https://www.instagram.com/brian_cassey/ .

Definitely an interesting activity to spend time with your placard waving daughter 🙂

Images © Brian Cassey

‘Deadly Threads’ at State Library of Queensland …

Nice bonus travelling to Brisbane last weekend for The Clarions … when I accidentally came across my portrait work (massively printed) at the State Library of Queensland’s ‘Deadly Threads’ exhibition . 

Was of the believe that It had already closed and I’d missed it … but an impromptu walk through SLQ and there was the big sign  (accompanied by one of my large images) … ‘Deadly Threads – Where Did You Get That Shirt?’ … enter.

‘Deadly Threads’ is a showcase of singlets, shirts, polos and jerseys (over a 190) created by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from across Queensland. It explores the significance of these pieces as symbols of identity, celebration and unity. They have been developed to protest, commemorate special occasions and historical events and tell stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and cultures.

My part was to produce portraits of significant indigenous personalities wearing a range of these shirts for display around the exhibit and for promotional purposes. Around a dozen of my large portraits adorned the exhibition printed (in one case) up to a massive near four metres. I made the pics back in Cairns earlier this year in a little home made pop-up studio.

What I didn’t yet know was, that the day I stumbled into the exhibition last Sunday was it’s LAST day. When I returned next day with camera in hand to record the work, the staff were in the process of taking the exhibition down (hence the limited pics here 🙂 ).

The best news is that the ‘Deadly Threads’ exhibition is coming to Cairns very soon (you heard it first here) and will be open at the Cairns Regional Gallery in November/December. 

Here’s links to the State Library of Queensland’s ‘Deadly Threads’ … https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/deadlythreads … and … https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/whats-on/deadly-threads-where-did-you-get-shirt

It will be well worth catching when it opens at the Cairns Art Gallery where my large portraits will again feature.

Images © Brian Cassey

'Deadly Threads' at State Library of Queensland, Brisbane - Mural Photographic Prints by Brian Cassey

'Deadly Threads' at State Library of Queensland, Brisbane - Mural Photographic Prints by Brian Cassey

'Deadly Threads' at State Library of Queensland, Brisbane - Mural Photographic Prints by Brian Cassey

'Deadly Threads' at State Library of Queensland, Brisbane - Mural Photographic Prints by Brian Cassey

 

 

 

Mornington … Clarion Media Awards Finalist …

… it’s always a pleasure … a once a year excuse to trek to Brisbane and spend a very pleasant eve with southern media colleagues that I far too infrequently get to socialise with.

The ‘Finalists’ in the Clarion Awards … Queensland’s prestigious awards which recognise the best of the Sunshine States media for their work across the year … were announced this week … and very pleased to be selected as one of three photographers in ‘Best Photographic Essay’.

So … if the Covid virus plays nicely (i.e. elsewhere) … will be off to Brissie in October to enjoy another year of the Clarion Awards ‘presentations’ … this time at a cocktail function at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Greatly looking forward to catching up with photographers Darren England and Evan Morgan (co-finalists in ‘Essay’), David Clark, Annette Dew and Tertius Pickard (finalists In ‘News Photograph’) and ‘Regional’ finalists Rob Maccoll and Cairns colleague Brendan Radke. Big congrats guys n gal. Not forgetting the wonderful journalists, scribes, blunts (whatever you choose to call ‘em) that pen the words that fill the spaces between our photographs.

My selected work is a pic essay compiled from images made for The Sunday Mail and The Australian, documenting the plight of the indigenous residents of the remote Gulf of Carpentaria township of Mornington Island. Entitled “The Queenslanders Left Behind”, it comprises eleven images made during two journeys to the island, concentrating on the issues of housing overcrowding and other social ills.

Five of those eleven pics are here below … from top … Shaylene Yarrick and her children bed down in the lounge of their overcrowded house … Mum Cheree Loogatha and daughter Arizona outside their Gununa house …  Shaylene Yarrick sheds a tear outside her tiny overcrowded home … The Loogatha family yarn around the fire outside their house … Mornington Island sisters Yvonne Wilson (17) and Corrin Wilson (13) suffer from type 2 diabetes. Corrin also has rheumatic heart disease, whilst their mother is receiving dialysis following renal failure.

Very pleased to once again have the chance (it’s now twelve years of ‘Finalists’ with a fair few ‘Wins’ over the last decade and a half) to enjoy Queensland’s media ’Night of Nights’.

Covid-19 … please don’t stuff it up !

Images © Brian Cassey

Clarion Media Awards Finalist - Photographic Essay -“Mornington Island – The Queenslanders Left Behind” by Brian Cassey

Clarion Media Awards Finalist - Photographic Essay -“Mornington Island – The Queenslanders Left Behind” by Brian Cassey

Clarion Media Awards Finalist - Photographic Essay -“Mornington Island – The Queenslanders Left Behind” by Brian Cassey

Clarion Media Awards Finalist - Photographic Essay -“Mornington Island – The Queenslanders Left Behind” by Brian Cassey

Clarion Media Awards Finalist - Photographic Essay -“Mornington Island – The Queenslanders Left Behind” by Brian Cassey

Inside Manus at the Clarions …

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 !

 

Clarion Queensland Media Awards 2018 - "Best Photographic EssaY" - "Inside Manus Detention Centre" - by Brian Cassey

Clarion Queensland Media Awards 2018 - "Best Photographic EssaY" - "Inside Manus Detention Centre" - by Brian Cassey

Clarion Queensland Media Awards 2018 - "Best Photographic EssaY" - "Inside Manus Detention Centre" - by Brian Cassey

Six weeks and the Commonwealth Games …

The Commonwealth Games is now well and truly over … the stories of triumph and endeavour (and a little controversy) slowly fading into history.

Personally, ‘GC 2018’ meant six weeks of photographic employment … five weeks around the country with the Commonwealth Games ‘Queen’s Baton Relay’ … and a further week covering the fourteen Commonwealth Games basketball events in Cairns for Australian Associated Press (AAP) including the visit of … ahem … ‘basketball fan’ HRH Prince Charley.

All very rewarding … and a satisfactory little ‘earner’..

The rest of this post was penned on my return from the ‘Queen’s Baton Relay’ stint back in January … but has been held over till now to satisfy any contractual requirements.

“Just back from a manic, chockers but fantastically rewarding full month criss-crossing Australia with the Commonwealth Games Queens Baton Relay … Thanks to team mate colleagues Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert and Colin McPherson (they are Scottish but I won’t hold that against them) … and the GOLDOC crew.

Commencing on the 23rd December and running (almost literally) to the tail end of January, I travelled, in order, to Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Melbourne, Hobart, Perth, Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, Stradroke Island, Gold Coast, Townsville, Palm Island, Gold Coast, Springbrook, Uluru, Melbourne, Warrnambool, the Great Ocean Road … and Adelaide. We took in Australia’s top sporting events … the Boxing Day ‘Ashes’ test match in Melbourne, the finish of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race (including Taste of Tasmania) in Hobart, the Perth Cup (horses) and Hopman Cup (tennis) in Western Australia, ‘A League’ football Sydney FC V Newcastle at Allianz Stadium, the Sydney ‘Ashes’ test match at the SCG, the Brisbane International tennis (with Rod Laver, Roy Emerson et al), the Magic Millions beach horse run on the Gold Coast, the National Sports Museum at the MCG and the Tour Downunder cycle races in Adelaide … and climbed each of the Sydney Harbour Bridge (with Ian Thorpe), the Q1 building (322 metres) at Surfers Paradise and the roof of the Adelaide Oval. We also took the Queens’s Baton to Uluru, Palm Island, the Twelve Apostle’s and Springbrook National Park.

I met and worked with some wonderful people … athletes, baton bearers, the relay team members and myriads of people who showed great interest in “The Baton” … whilst catching up with many photographer colleagues at distant parts of the country. I also made the odd photograph or two … ”

Below are just three of those … made at Uluru, at Surfers Paradise (Magic Millions) and at the peak of the Sydney Harbour Bridge …

Images © Brian Cassey and GOLDOC

 

Queen's Baton Relay 2018 - Uluru - Brian Cassey GOLDOC

Queen's Baton Relay 2018 - Magic Millions Beach Run Surfers Paradise - Brian Cassey & GOLDOC

Queen's Baton Relay 2018 - Sydney Harbour Bridge - Ian Thorpe - Brian Cassey & GOLDOC

 

Tokyo International … Result …

A very welcome email arrived just a day or two before Christmas with the news that two of my works had been selected as winners in the inaugural edition of the Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA’s).

‘TIFA’ …  a new event on the calendar … aims “to recognize, reward and expose talented photographers from around the world and introduce them to the creative community in Japan”.

My works selected were … Gold (First Place) in ‘Editorial Personality’ for the portrait ‘The Skin I’m In’ of burns survivor Carol Mayer … and Silver (First Place) in ‘Moving Image Essay’ for my short film ‘Eyes – the Soul of a Photograph’. Both works have featured previously in other awards.

They will be shown alongside other works during the winners exhibition at the Owada Gallery, Shibuya Cultural Center Owada, 23-21 Sakura-gaoka-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo … with the grand opening eve on February 25th. Sadly, I doubt I will be able to take up the invitation.

All Images © Brian Cassey

'The Skin I'm In' - portrait of Carol Mayer - Winner - 'Editorial - Personality', Tokyo International Foto Awards 2016 - image by Brian Cassey

Sensational Walkley’s …

What a night … and a what a result … !

The 2016 Walkley Awards on Friday eve at the Brisbane Exhibition Centre heralded an historic ‘first’ … the mega talented and great guy photojournalist Andrew Quilty the first photographer to ever take out the biggest prize – the ‘Gold Walkley’.

Nobody deserves it more …

Andrew is totally dedicated to his craft and gave away a job at Fairfax to move to Afghanistan as a freelance. His work is extraordinary.

I was fortunate – by way of my Nikon-Walkley Portrait win – to be seated at the same table 55 as Andrew on Friday eve … along with the incredibly legendary war photojournalist Tim Page and partner Marianna Harris, Walkley advisory board member and photographer Michael Amendolia, prolific photography journalist Alison Steven-Taylor (‘Photojournalism Now’), my Cairns photographer mate Marc McCormack and Mrs Sandra, Tanie Harris Sansey … and Andrew’s delightful mum Ann.

Definitely the best table of the night !

Before the evenings events commenced Andrew had already bagged the Nikon-Walkley ‘Photo of the Year’ award … and soon added the ‘News Photo’ award … before thrilling the scores of media photographers – and everyone else in the room  – with the final award of the night – the ‘Gold Walkley’. Magic …

A absolute pleasure to chat with Tim … and delighted that he suggested we swap prints … my Portrait Prize pic for one of his amazing historic combat images. Pretty stoked about that …

The rest of the Nikon-Walkley photography awards were also ‘spot on’ … with Alex Coppel taking out ‘Press Photographer of the Year’, Cameron Spencer the ‘Sports Photography’ award and David Maurice Smith the ‘Feature/Photographic Essay’ award … all against some amazing ‘Finalist’ opposition.

Well done Walkley’s and Nikon … truly memorable !

Below is top … Tim Page watching the announcement of my ‘Nikon-Walkley Portrait Prize’ win from our table … and below … the older PJ legend Tim chats with the newer legend Andrew Quilty after his ‘Gold Walkley’ win.

Images © Brian Cassey 2016

2016 Walkley Awards - Nikon-Walkley Awards - Gold Walkley, Andrew Quilty - Portraiture, Brian Cassey

Walkley Awards 2016 - Nikon-Walkley Awards - Winner Gold Walkley, Andrew Quilty - Portraiture, Brian Cassey

“Nikon Walkley Press Photographer of the Year” …

It’s very hard to pace yourself at a glittering free alcohol media event over five long hours (not including the obligatory ‘after party’) … but that’s “The Walkley’s” for you!

Thursday night at the Royal International Convention Centre in Brisbane was the setting for this years Walkley Awards black tie media extravaganza … and if you weren’t lucky enough to score a ‘rare as hens teeth’ invitation in person it was screened live on ABC TV.

I was fortunate to be selected to attend as one of the three finalists in the “Nikon Walkley Press Photographer of the Year” award … indeed an honour to be so selected from Australia’s fantastically talented press photographer contingent. My contenders for the major photographic award of the evening were the extremely talented Quinn Rooney from Getty Images and Kate Geraghty from Fairfax. I would like to say that I really enjoyed the entire show… but that would be stretching it!  In truth the stress of waiting, waiting, waiting for several hours for the relevant “Press Photographer of the Year” result to be announced wasn’t pleasant … despite the good humoured attention and support of all the Nikon Australia crew – Kylie, Julie, Steve, Andrew et al – at our table. (They even let me play with a brand new Nikon Df to take my mind of it all – very nice camera !)

The end result ? … you can find out ALL the finalists and winners and watch the entire Walkley event on ABC’s iview here at http://www.abc.net.au/iview/#/program/78313946 … I’m still far too ‘stressed’!

The fantastic work of all the Nikon Walkley photographic finalists was arrayed strategically around the dining and awards venue for all to see and comment on. Indeed, broadcaster and journalist Mike Carlton (@MikeCarlton01) was moved enough on the night to ‘tweet’ thus – “Australian photographers are brilliant. Tragic that newspapers have punted so many of them”. Political journalist Amy Remeikis (@AmyRemeikis) also waded in on #walkleys with her ‘tweet’ – “Seriously media companies – invest in photographers. They reach people our words can’t or don’t. And my iPhone shots are shit.”

If you weren’t there on the big night all the Finalists images can also be found here at http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkleyfoundation/sets/ and my nominated  “Nikon Walkley Press Photographer of the Year” portfolio is here at http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkleyfoundation/sets/72157636407740096/ .

Below is a screen shot of my Finalist portfolio from the Nikon Walkley Press Photography Flickr web site.

The Nikon Walkley Press Photography Exhibition hits the road over the next 6 months or so … and you will be able to catch my work and the brilliant work of all the other finalists at shows in Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Newcastle and Brisbane … see here for dates and venues … http://www.walkleys.com/photography-events

Images © Brian Cassey

NikonWalkleyPressPhotographeroftheYear

Nikon-Walkley Comes to ‘Brissie’ …

Thanks to the Walkley Foundation, the MEAA and – not least of all – Nikon Australia, I travelled ‘down south’ to Brisbane last week to attend the opening of the 2011/2012 Nikon-Walkley Photographic exhibition at the Powerhouse – and the Australian Institute of Professional Photography “Hair of the Dog” conference.

It was excellent to attend the Nikon-Walkley opening eve and to catch up with colleagues and friends – and an honour to give the opening floor talk and to receive an embarrassingly over the top introduction by MEAA Federal Secretary Chris Warren ! Thanks Chris!

It was also an honour to have my image “Carol – Burns Survivor” exhibited amongst some truly fantastic work from Australia’s best press photographers.

(Something I was not so excited about was the ABC radio and TV interviews I was required to do – a learning curve.)

The Powerhouse is a fantastic exhibition space oozing character, all the works were all very well lit … and the staff were super attentive and efficient.

The exhibition runs to February 27th and is very well worth a visit.

Below is an iPhone pic of my image nestled in the Powerhouse’s beautiful exhibition space.

Image © Brian Cassey 2012

 

A Little Chat at the Walkley Media Conference …

Last week I was fortunate (and honoured) to be invited to be a part of the Walkley Media Conference – “What’s the Story? Inventing the Future” – in Brisbane. Felt rather humble to be part of a great list of speakers that included the ABC’s Mark Scott, Greg Hywood (CEO of Fairfax Media), well known humourist and journalist Wendy Harmer – and many distinguished others – all of whom, I’m sure, had more experience in this ‘speaking’ lark than I !

My session was scheduled for three and a half hours … (and went for four! – didn’t realise I could talk that long!) and touched on the changes in media photography over the last decades, the state of play today, how to handle the difficulties encountered and what we may expect in the future. A mix of about two dozen journalists, photographers and students patiently listened and asked a myriad of thoughtful questions over the session. I thank them for their attention ! (‘Thanks’ is also due to Nikon’s Quentin Visentin who demonstrated the new Nikon 1 kit to the audience.)

My congratulations and ‘Thanks’ also to the MEAA and the Walkley Foundation for a fantastic conference!

Of course … my highlight of the Brisbane visit was the 2011 Walkley Awards presentation at the Convention & Exhibition Centre on Sunday eve. A brilliant night to be a part of – very gratified to receive the recognition of the Nikon Walkley Best Portrait Award for my image  ‘Carol – Burns Survivor’ – and to share the evening with talented press photographers Glenn Campbell,  Craig Greenhill, Stuart McEvoy, Rob Maccoll, Nev Madsen, the Getty guys, 2011 Nikon Walkley Press Photographer of the Year Phil Hillyard … as well as many journalist and industry colleagues. Great Night!

Whilst searching for material for my conference session I came across one of the very first photographs I ever took … at the age of about ten or eleven … and my first ever camera that made that image – a bakelite VP Twin camera that was bought (begrudgingly by my parents) from Woolworths in the Isle of Wight for two shillings and six pence ! (about fifty cents). I’m NOT telling anybody how long ago that actually WAS … but below I’ve posted the image (of the Cunard liner “RMS Queen Elizabeth” in the Solent UK – I was a boy into ships and trains at that stage!) and a pic of the camera. I used both images at the commencement of the Walkley Conference session.

© Image by Brian Cassey (a little while ago!)

 

Clarion Awards …

The Finalists in the 2011 Queensland “Clarion Media Awards” were announced last Thursday eve and the nice surprise is that my work covering category 5  Cyclone Yasi’s vicious onslaught on far north Queensland has been selected in both the major photographic categories – “Best News Photograph” and “Best Photographic Essay”.

Rounding out the other finalists in each category are Neville Madsen (image from the Toowomba floods) and Rob Maccoll (image from Cyclone Yasi coverage) in “Best News Photograph” – and in “Best Photographic Essay” – once again Rob Maccoll (for state wide disaster images) and Harrison Sarogossi (for images from a night in Brisbanes’ Valley).

Rob Maccoll, staffer at the Courier Mail, and I have been friendly rivals over many years … and the ribbing will be on again this year for sure!

The big media awards presentation night and dinner is on Saturday 10 September at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre and is organised by the hard working crew at the Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) and the Walkley Foundation.

For the list of all finalists from all the media categories across Print, TV, Radio and Online – and details of how to book for the big evening – go to the “Clarion Awards” page.

Below is just one image from my finalist entries – “Lives Laid Bare” – an aerial image of just one of the residences destroyed by Cylone Yasi at the luxury resort island of Bedarra. Clicking on the image will take you to the full Cyclone Yasi essay on my web site proper.

Image © Brian Cassey