Chhattisgarh | Brian Cassey Photographer Cairns Australia

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Moscow, Moscow, Moscow …

June 10th, 2020

Pleased to have three images selected to each receive an ‘Honorable Mention’ in the just announced 2020 ‘Moscow International Foto Awards’. Especially pleasing is that all three are relatively ‘new’ images … two made in February and the other made in India last October.

It is the first ‘accolade’ for the portrait of Bonn … “Bonn Marie – Asking the Question” … made at a social gathering in the studio shed of fellow Cairns photographer Marc Steiner. It was Bonn’s first real time seriously in front of the camera … she’s a talented little red head and done very good ! (it’s also the first time one of my pics has been mentioned in a ‘Fine Art’ category.)

Kate … my subject in “Kate – Waiting for Her New Breasts” … is one of the very nicest and most resilient women I’ve met. To cut a long story short … Kate had a double mastectomy eight years ago after being diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer and expected to have reconstructive surgery soon after. Thanks to the inadequacies of the hospital wait list system she is still waiting …

The image ran front page of the Queensland Sunday Mail and prompted the Queensland Health Minister to fast track her surgery … than along came covid-19. She’s still again (patiently) waiting …

This is the second mention for Kate’s image following it’s selection as a Finalist in the Percival Photographic Portrait Prize currently exhibiting at the Perc Tucker Gallery in Townsville.

“Ramnami” is a image I made in Chhattisgarh, India whilst on a day off from covering the story of Indian coal mining giant Adani’s continued destruction of the Hasdeo Arand forest and it’s tribal Gond peoples. Maherttar Ram Tandon is member of the Hindu sect Ramnami Samaj and his entire body is covered with the tattooed text of their god रामराम – Ram Ram – making him one of the only five still surviving ’Naksikh’.

This image has also just been selected on the shortlist of the global and prestigious ‘Portrait of Humanity’ 2020 collection and will be, amongst other things, projected on a screen in the stratosphere and then transmitted as a digital binary file through space on a (possibly) never ending journey. More details about the Image and it’s space journey are here … https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/blog/stories-blog/2020/06/pics-in-space-out-of-this-world-with-portrait-of-humanity/

The Moscow International Foto Awards have become something of an annual habit and have clocked up a fair few mentions since the first win in 2014. Check through the years here if so inclined …

Images © Brian Cassey

Moscow International Foto Awards 2020 - winning images by Brian Cassey x 3

Posted in Awards, Blog, Comment, Exhibitions, Images, Publications, Travel | Tagged Adani, breast reconstruction, breast surgery, Chhattisgarh, culture, fine art, freckles, Gond, Hindu, Hindu sect, india, MIFA, Moscow, Moscow International Foto Awards, photo awards, photography awards, portraits, portraiture, ram-ram, Ramnami, tattoo | Leave a comment

‘Pics in Space’ … Out of This World with ‘Portrait of Humanity’ …

June 3rd, 2020

I mentioned a few weeks ago in a Facebook post that I had some exciting news that I couldn’t at the time reveal … I can now !

Announced last eve … the ‘Shortlisted’ images in the second edition of ‘Portrait of Humanity’ … a planet wide selection of the best photographic portraiture co-hosted by 1854 media (publisher of the British Journal of Photography) and Magnum. This project aims to create one of the most ‘far-reaching’ … literally in more ways than one … portrait photography exhibitions in history.

The two hundred ‘Shortlisted’ portraits will be exhibited in outer space … and then transmitted as code through the Universe for (possibly) eternity !

Portrait of Humanity organisers elaborate … “In the ultimate celebration of humankind and the home we share, Portrait of Humanity 2020 will be exhibited in Space. In a feat never before achieved with a photographic exhibition, 200 shortlisted images will be used to broadcast a message of peace and unity from humankind to infinity. Our partner, ‘Sent Into Space’, will launch a screen into the stratosphere with a 360° camera, so photographers can see their images displayed against the extraordinary backdrop of Space. The images will then be beamed onwards in binary code, travelling unimpeded through the solar system at the speed of light. These messages could continue on an infinite journey — or until another civilisation receives and decodes them.”

May seem like bit of a ‘stunt’ but it seems like pretty damn cool stunt to me.

The best bit is that they have selected TWO of my images to make the journey into the stratosphere and beyond … “Ramnami” (a portrait of tattooed Maherttar Ram Tandon in Chhattisgarh, India) … .. and … “The Skin I’m In” (a portrait of the wonderful Cairns burns survivor Carol Anne Mayer). The portrait of Carol has attracted lost of ‘interest’ previously, whilst it’s very rewarding to see the portrait of Maherttar receive it’s first recognition.

All the ‘shortlisted’ images have also been collected into a ‘Portrait of Humanity Volume 2’ book. If you are interested in this wonderful volume of the best photographic portraiture from around our planet you can order a copy from the British Journal of Photography book shop here … https://www.thebjpshop.com/product/portrait-of-humanity-vol-2/ . (Carol … I have one on order for you !).

Great to be part of this exciting ‘out of this World’ initiative by 1854 Media and the British Journal of Photography … as was being selected in the shortlist of the inaugural ‘Portrait of Humanity’ collection back in 2019.

Images © Brian Cassey (@BJPhoto)

Posted in Awards, Comment, Exhibitions, Images, Stories, Travel | Tagged British Journal of Photography, burns survivor, Carol Mayer, Chhattisgarh, exhibition in space, images in space, india, Magnum, pics in space, Portrait of Humanity, Portrait of Humanity 2020, portraits, portraiture, Ramnami, Sent Into Space, The Skin I'm In | Leave a comment

Adani and Gond Images in ‘Corriere Della Sera’ Covid-19 story…

May 25th, 2020

Great to see that my images made in Chhattisgarh, India last year have been given another breath of life to illustrate a Covid-19 related story just published in both the print and online editions of the venerable Italian newspaper ‘Corriere Della Sera’.

I originally made the images and wrote the words around mining giant Adani’s destruction of large areas of the Hasdeo Arand forest in the state of Chhattisgarh, India … and ousting the original Gond tribal peoples from their ancient forest homelands. Two articles were originally published in ‘The Guardian’ … here … and here … and on my blog at … https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/blog/publications/2020/02/adani-and-the-gond/

However, ‘Corriere Della Sera’ updated the story to be more appropriate for the strange Coronavirus times we are now living in. Six months makes a monumental difference. Their story entitled ‘Mines or solar energy: the pandemic accelerates the dilemma of the giant India’ … centres on the premise that the onslaught of Covid-19 in India has began a perceived shift away from traditional coal for power production towards solar power. India’s top twenty ‘think tanks’ have together lobbied Modi’s Indian government to utilise solar panels to power the massive rural areas and populations of the sub-continent in place of coal. The plight of the Gond peoples in the Hasdeo Arand forest and their battle against mining giant Adani (based on my original story) are central to their argument.

Obviously Corriere Della Sera’s story is in Italian … and it may be found here … and in scans of pages 12, 13 and 14 of the paper here below. A Google ‘translation’ into English is a little hard to fathom but makes much more sense to me than the Italian: -) … find it here.

Images X 8 © Brian Cassey (all except the solar power image) … publication © Corriere Della Sera, Milan, Italy

Corriere Della Sera - Adani, Gond Peoples and Hasdeo Arand Forest story - images by Brian Cassey

Posted in Blog, Comment, Images, Publications, Stories, Stories, Travel | Tagged Adani, Adivasis, Chhattisgarh, coal, coal mining, coronavirus, Corriere Della Sera, covid-19, deforestation, feature photography, forest destruction, fossil fuel, Gond, Hasdeo Arand, Hasdeo Arand forest, india, Italian newspaper, New Horizons, open cut coal mines, photojournalism, solar energy | Leave a comment

Adani and the Gond …

February 17th, 2020

Great, at last, to see images and words I put together during late last years journey to India published for the first time.

The Guardian UK have published my work on their ‘The Age of Extinction’ feature page under the head “India’s Ancient Tribes Battle to Save their Forest Home from Mining”.

The ‘ancient tribe’ is the ancient Gond people, their ‘forest home’ is the Hasdeo Arand forest in Chhattisgarh … and they are battling (amongst others) the massive Indian conglomerate that is also planning to mine in central Queensland Australia … Adani.

The Hasdeo Arand forest is the largest continuous stretch of dense forest in central India, covering about 170,000 hectares of the state of Chhattisgarh – the coal mining powerhouse of the country.

One of the last remaining remnants of the massive deciduous forests that once covered much of India, it is rich in biodiversity, contains many threatened species including elephants, leopards and sloth. It is also home to the Gond – one of India’s original indigenous peoples or Adivasis. The tribe take their name from the mythical Gondwanaland that gave birth to India and they have a deep spiritual connection to the forest. To the Gond the forest is life itself. Every forest feature has a spiritual significance – they see spirits in every leaf, tree, stream, river and hill. They also rely on products collected there to sustain life – flowers, fruits, grains, seeds, tubers and roots for food and medicines – and timber, leaves and grasses for ropes, mats, brooms, baskets, fires and building purposes.

Sadly for the Gond people and other Adivasis forest dwellers, the Hasdeo Arand sits atop over a billion metric tonnes of proven quality coal reserves.

In 2006 the Hasdeo Arand was legally declared off limits from exploitation, followed by a more explicit declaration by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in 2009 that the area was a ‘no-go’ area for mining.

That all changed in 2011 when the government changed tack, the community forest rights were revoked and forest clearance and mining permissions was granted for three coal blocks in the Hasdeo Arand … including the Parsa East and Kante Basan mine managed by Adani. The pace of new mines in the forest has escalated … thirty more newly surveyed open cut mine sites are due to go online in the Hasdeo Arand which threatens to destroy approximately eighty percent of the entire forest … and the lives of the forest dweller Gond people.

I thought that might make a decent story !!!! It is little known in Australia where passions for and against the Adani owned Carmichael mine in central Queensland are running high.

So, with friend and former pic editor Srienivas Akella in tow we travelled Mumbai to Raipur and into Chhattisgarh. We spent a total of a whole day driving over the four days covering the story. We met many Gond, documented their protests, lifestyle and the effects that the mines were having on their well being and that of the forest, resident elephants and other occupants … and saw the massive operating Adani Parsa East and Kante Basan open cut coal mine.

Pleased that The Guardian have seen the importance of this story, not only to Australians and Indians, but also to the planet in general.

Special Thanks to Srienivas and local Raipur contact Bipasha Paul.

My ‘The Guardian’ story and images may be found at … https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/10/indias-ancient-tribes-battle-to-save-their-forest-home-from-mining

Below are just a small percentage of the images (© Brian Cassey) from the project … some that didn’t make the published story. Pics of the Adani operations at their PEKB mine, Gond protests, the threatened Hasdeo Arand forest and Chhattisgarh.

STOP PRESS … seventeen of my images from this story are now published as a ‘special feature’ over a week on the planet wide instagram feed … https://www.instagram.com/everydayclimatechange/ … devoted to bringing attention to climate change issues.

Posted in Comment, Essays, Publications, Travel | Tagged Adani, Adivasis, Carmichael mine, Chhattisgarh, climate change, coal mining, elephant habitat, elephants, forest destruction, fossil fuel, Global Warming, Gond, Gond tribal people, Hasdeo Arand, Hasdeo Arand forest, india, mining, open cut coal mines, queensland | Leave a comment

Happenings in Perth, India … and the UK …

November 14th, 2019

A lot of ‘goings on’ recently with exhibition openings in Perth, a rewarding ‘road trip’ in India, a bit of recognition from ‘Budapest’ … and an image on the walls at the Royal Photographic Society in England.

Travelled to Perth (and Fremantle) last month for two exhibition openings at two events … the ‘Fremantle International Portrait Prize’ (FIPP) one week and the ‘IRIS Portrait Awards’ at the Perth Centre for Photography the next.

Satisfyingly, both included personal works … ‘Tomotaro on the Block’ and ‘Generations- Aurukun’ in the ‘FIPP’ … and just ‘Generations – Aurukun’ in the ‘IRIS’. Both great opening eves … first time for me in the ‘IRIS’ collection, but third time in the mix for the ‘FIPP’. Nice also to have a good opportunity to spend a little time in the West and catch up with photographer colleagues Richard Wainwright, Roger Garwood, Johannes Reinhart, Peter Ramshaw and Justin Ma… and also sparkling Nikon rep Julie Kimpton.

From Perth it was four flights to Mumbai (including a quick overnight stopover in Little India Singapore) where I met up with friend and former photo editor at the Indian Express, director of Solaris Images … and all round good bloke Srienivas Akella. ‘Srini’ had organised flights for the two of us to Raipur in the state of Chhattisgarh where I had identified one story in particular that I was keen to work on.

Srini has extensive knowledge of his home country and had also searched out a few other possible pic stories to fill any ‘blanks’ in covering my main objective. As it turned out we managed three stories over six days … my main story (which stretched over three days and involved twenty four hours of driving through Chhattisgarh – all will be revealed when the story and pics are placed and published) … pics of two (apparently of five) of the surviving full body tattooed ‘Ramnami’ – a low caste sect that once endured having the name of their god Rama etched over their entire bodies … and a continuation of my earlier ‘Typewriter Wallahs’ pic essay (this time in the city of Raipur) on the men (and woman) of India who persist in working with (and repairing) ancient manual typewriters.

The weeks work culminated back in Mumbai on a big Diwali celebration night of fireworks, colour and food with Srini, his family and his very pleasant community. Thanks Srini !

Also received great news … an email from ‘Portrait Salon’ stating … “Dear Brian, We are delighted to tell you that our judge, Peter Dench, has selected the attached image (‘Tomotaro on the Block’ … yeah that one again) to be included in this year’s Portrait Salon selection. This year, ‘Portrait Salon’ will be exhibited at the Royal Photographic Society in Bristol, from 21 – 28 November. It will then travel up to Harrogate to be part of the Photo North Festival, from 30 November – 2 December. The images will be presented both as a slideshow, and in print.”

Of course … I am stoked …

UK based ‘Portrait Salon’ is a sort of a ‘Salon des Refusés’ and solicits work that doesn’t make the winners cut of the monumental National Portrait Gallery (London) ‘Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize’ each year. Now in it’s 9th annual edition ‘Portrait Salon’ arguably shows more interesting work than the ‘Taylor Wessing’.

‘Tomotaro’ certainly has been good for me … as well as the ‘Portrait Salon’ and ‘FIPP’ mentioned above, it has also been recognised in the Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA), the Moscow International Foto Awards (MIFA), The Australian Photography Awards (APA) and the 12th International Color Awards.

Not far behind, ‘Generations – Aurukun’ has featured in the ‘IRIS’ and ‘FIPP’ mentioned and also the 2019 Portrait of Humanity and The Australian Photography Awards (APA).

Also at the end of October both of these images were announced ‘Winners’ in their respective categories (Editorial Sports and People) in the inaugural 2019 Budapest International Foto Awards (BIFA). Nice news to arrive home in Cairns to …

Images below © Brian Cassey … as follows from top … ‘Ramnami’ Maherttar Ram Tandon at his home in Churella Village, Chhattisgarh, India. Maherttar is covered all over his body with tattoos repeating the name of his God Rama … D. N. Verma amongst old manual typewriters that he is repairing at his Chhattisgarh Typewriter Works company in Raipur … my ‘Generations – Aurukun’ work at the ‘IRIS Awards‘, Perth Centre for Photography … ‘Tomotaro on the Block’ on the wall of the ‘Fremantle International Portrait Prize’, Moore’s Gallery, Fremantle (the same pic as selected for the ‘Portrait Salon’ in the UK’) … ‘Generations – Aurukun’ at the ‘Fremantle International Portrait Prize’, Moore’s Gallery, Fremantle.

Posted in Awards, Blog, Comment, Exhibitions, Images, Stories, Travel | Tagged Aurukun, BIFA, Budapest International Foto Awards, Chhattisgarh, Diwali, England, fipp, Fremantle, Fremantle International Portrait Prize, india, IRIS Awards, Mumbai, Perth, Perth Centre for Photography, Peter Dench, Portrait Salon, queensland, Raipur, Rama, Royal Photographic Society, tattoo, Taylor Wessing, typewriters, UK | Leave a comment

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