A Portrait ‘Treble’ at the Australian Photography Awards …
At the risk of sounding monotonous and repetitive … my apologies for once again featuring these three of my portrait images … but …
… all three have just been selected as ‘Honourable Mention’ Finalists in the Portrait category of the 2019 ‘Australian Photography Awards’ … pretty gratified with that.
Each of the three images have been really good for me … previously and variously being ‘mentioned in dispatches’ in the ‘Portrait of Humanity 2019’, ‘Moscow International Foto Awards’, ‘Tokyo International Foto Awards’, ‘Head On Portrait Prize’, ’12th International Color Awards’ … and the soon to be officially opened ‘Fremantle International Portrait Prize’ and ‘IRIS Portrait Prize’ in Western Australia.
Below are the three … “Generations Aurukun” featuring Aurukun elders Silas and Rebecca Wolmby with their twin great grand children … “Tomotaro on the Block’ of Japanese paralympic swimmer Tomotaro Nakamura at the 2018 Pan Pacific Para Games in Cairns … and “Victim of Sorcery – Dorcas” of ‘Sanguma’ (sorcery) victim Dorcas Numbi Nunugi recovering from a near fatal attack at a ‘safe house’ in Goroka, Papua New Guinea.
The ‘Australian Photography Awards’ exhibition opens at Sun Studios Melbourne on October 12th and runs until October 20th. Sadly, will miss the opening as have already committed to the ‘FIPP’ exhibition event in Fremantle on the same day.
Promise that I’ll soon shut up about these three pics … and concentrate on producing some new work 😉 .
Images © Brian Cassey
Kowanyama Portraits …
Every now and then a job turns up that’s … well … a little different. December saw one of those.
Former ‘Young Australian of the Year’ (2007) Tania Major contacted me and asked if I may like to host ‘portrait sessions’ and a workshop in her home township of Kowanyama on western Cape York just before Christmas. The idea … part of the RISE Arts Program … was to raise awareness of the possibilities of photographic portraiture in the indigenous community and provide any residents who ‘sat’ (or stood, leant or lay) with a timely portrait before Christmas. Nice idea …
So … I traveled to Kowanyama, set up a makeshift studio in the Kowanyama Arts & Culture Centre … and spent four days meeting and photographing the fabulous characters who arrived almost constantly. Elderly, young, very young and not so young …
It was not only great fun but also a truly positive and rewarding event.
The seven portraits I’ve selected here below are just a tiny proportion of the over three hundred I made during the program.
Thanks Tania ( @tanmajor ) … and to the Kowanyama residents for their wonderful hospitality and humour at what was a difficult time for the community (which I won’t go into here.)
Portraits left to right from top …
David “Crow” Kitchener … Evelyn Birchley & Her Red Dress … and … James “Doon Doon” Josiah Junior, Jyson Yam & Sneeklaw Possum … Zacchias Daniel … and … Neville Henry … Arnold Possum … and … Nazarie Birchley with Herbert Major-Birchley.
Images © Brian Cassey