| Brian Cassey Photographer Cairns Australia

A Few New ‘Award Updates’ …

January 13, 2024July 25, 2023

A few nice recognitions over the past few weeks … 🙂

Firstly … so nice to once again be selected as a Finalist in the Perth Centre for Photography’s ‘IRIS’ portrait awards … a biennial award that my work has now been selected for the third time in a row. The actual finalist works chosen this time are still a necessary secret … but all will be revealed when the exhibition of finalist and winners works opens at PCP’s Perth gallery on September 1st. Fortunately I will be in Perth at that time en route back from the UK.

PCP describes the ‘IRIS’ awards so … “The IRIS Award celebrates excellence in portraiture photography, revealing portraits that are unique, original and conceptually stimulating. IRIS has been running for 18 years, with the inaugural exhibition held back in 2003”.

I missed seeing my last finalist work on the ‘IRIS” exhibition wall in 2021 …“Tears for George Floyd … 8 Minutes and 46 Seconds” … due to the Covid-19 pandemic … so I’m looking forward to being there for this one.

Arguably the one of the nicest surprises was the news that my portrait of the now sadly departed 100 year old Alf ‘Popeye’ Neal OAM entitled “100 Years & 3 Weeks” was selected in the ‘Best 25’ of the Dohdo International photography magazines “Portrait – Best Photographers of 2023” collection. The pic of Alf is now nicely included in the large format hard cover year book “Portrait” (see top image below) and will also be exhibited in an online ‘Best 25’ collection for the next year.

(The same image of Alf was earlier this year also selected as the Winner of the ‘People’ category of the 19th International Pollux Awards.)

In the 16th International Color Awards announced recently my works were selected as ‘Honourable Mentions’ in both the ‘Portrait’ category (with image “Covid Vax & Ice Cream”) and the ‘Children of the World’ category (with image “Veronica – Where Home Brew Kills”) … whilst my image “Scooter” also made the finalist cut in ‘Portrait’. See the trio of images below. All three have been acknowledged in previous awards.

Lastly in ‘new’ award dispatches … “Covid Vax & Ice Cream” again resonated when it was selected as a finalist in the ‘People’ category of the 2023 ‘ReFocus Colour Awards‘.

A pleasant few weeks … 🙂

Images © Brian Cassey

Mentioned in Dispatches from Budapest …

December 1, 2022November 30, 2022

… Nice … 4 X Honourable Mentions in the 2022 Budapest International Foto Awards (BIFA) announced yesterday.

You’ve likely seen the work before on this blog, social media or elsewhere … but always nice to receive a little more kudos. So … here they are …

1. “Veronica – Where Home Brew Kills” – People/Children – Five year old Veronica Barnes on Mornington Island in far northern Australia. Her remote indigenous community is suffering the ravages of a dangerous ‘Home Brew’ alcohol epidemic. Veronica is growing up in a community where community members – including children – are dying from alcohol related issues and severe diabetes.
2. “Scooter- Paralympian” – Editorial/Sport – Swim Paralympian Grant “Scooter” Patterson has diastrophic dysplasia, a joint fusion disability connected to dwarfism. He was catapulted to cult hero status around the planet when he won silver and bronze swim medals at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. His nickname comes from his constant form of transport – a three wheel scooter.
3. “Mother Africa” – People/Culture – As a black Colorado born African American, Aurora Coulter is acutely aware of her heritage, the treatment of her coloured predecessors and forebears in the United States – and also the history of Australia’s indigenous population since supposed ‘settlement’.
4. “Covid Vax & Ice Cream” – People/Portrait – After receiving her first Pfizer Covid-19 vaccination in her remote Yarrabah far north Australia home, 67 year old aboriginal Leanne Bulmer sits with her ‘reward’ – a free ice cream from the ice cream van that was arranged to follow the on foot ‘door to door’ doctors and medical teams through the indigenous community.

Taking some of the gloss off the BIFA announcement was the insane decision by both IG and FB to ‘remove’ the tasteful and respectful ‘news’ image of Veronica citing their ‘community standards’ and impose a ‘ban’ … whilst they constantly bombard social media with unsolicited overtly sexually blatant images of females displaying their various ‘bits’. Go figure …

You may check out where all four of these images have previously gained attention on my ‘Awards’ page here.

Also a special mention and a brilliant result for Cairns colleague and friend Emese Gyalog who won a ‘Bronze’ award and also 4 x Honourable Mentions … (and who just happens to be in Budapest right now.)

Big Thanks to my subjects … Veronica, Grant ‘Scooter’ Patterson, Aurora Coulter and Leanne Bulmer.

Images © Brian Cassey

Budapest International Foto Awards (BIFA 2022 - Honourable Mention X 4 - "Veronica - Where Home Brew Kills", "Scooter", "Mother Africa" & "Covid Vax & Ice Cream" - by Brian Cassey

Cracking Clarion Winning Eve in Brisbane …

October 10, 2022October 10, 2022

Great evening at “The Clarion Awards” 2022 … the night where Queensland wide media gather together in Brisbane to party, generally misbehave … and share a few awards around.

Very pleased to have picked up one of those awards … ‘Best Photographic Essay’ … with my work from the indigenous community of Yarrabah, “Covid Vax & Ice Cream”. The pic essay consisted of twelve images narrating a door to door covid vaccination campaign by doctors and medical professionals organised to increase extremely low inoculation uptake amongst the populace. I covered the door to door program (with an arranged ice cream van following dispensing free treats) for The Australian who used most of the work either in print or in on-line galleries. One of the pics contained in the essay … of 67 year old Leanne Bulmer with her post Pfizer jab ice cream … has also found much success on it’s own, previously winning several awards around the planet (see here, here, here, here and here … and bottom below.)

The second Clarion photography award category … ‘Best News Photograph’ … was also of a covid nature and taken out by the Courier Mail photographer Lachie Millard. His terrific work showed three year old Memphis being reunited with his mother at Archerfield air field following a two month covid border closure separation.

Magic to catch up with many friends and colleagues from around the State. It’s such an enjoyable annual event and get together. Huge thanks to all at The Clarions and the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance for their great organisational skills and presentation at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre. Wonderful …

Below are just four of the twelve images that make up my winning “Covid Vax & Ice Cream” photo essay. To see the complete essay go to my ‘Awards’ page at … www.briancasseyphotographer.com/awards .

Images © Brian Cassey

2022 The Clarion Awards - Brisbane - WINNER - Best Photographic Essay - "Covid Vax & Ice Cream" by Brian Cassey

“Australian Life” … Sydney Awards & Exhibition Including “Covid Vax & Ice Cream” …

July 23, 2023September 18, 2022

… this is the way to display photographers work !

Just spent a few days in Sydney town to take in the opening of the 2022 “Australian Life” photographic awards and exhibition in Hyde Park … and it’s a cracker !

The work of twenty eight selected award Finalists … very gratifyingly including my “Covid Vax & Ice Cream” portrait of Yarrabah’s Leanne Bulmer … are showcased along one of Hyde Park’s main pedestrian thoroughfares. Each work is brilliantly displayed at 2.8 metres wide in massive lightboxes … at dusk the pictorial effect was startling.

The range of work displayed is diverse, sometimes poignant, sometimes amusing, invariably fascinating and a visual feast.

Sydney Mayor Clover Moore commented on the event … “These images are thought-provoking, joyful, harrowing. Each one captures a moment in time somewhere in Australia and together they form a record of the challenges and richness of Australian life”.

The twenty eight works in the exhibition were selected from a total of over seventeen hundred images from around the country. Many Thanks to all the photographers who were selected and made this exhibition ‘special’.

Opening eve, of course, it rained constantly … but since then the weather has been kinder and a constant flow of pedestrians have taken in the show.

If you are unable to visit the exhibition in Sydney you may find all the exhibition images on the City of Sydney website at … https://news.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/photos/australian-life-photography-competition-finalists-2022… but it isn’t as good as ‘being there’.

You can also listen to a two minute audio file on my “Covid Vax & Ice Cream” image … that is available to access by scanning a barcode under the displayed work in Hyde Park … here … https://cityofsydney.wistia.com/medias/cm60fq1d2y

Great to see this City of Sydney – Art & About event return following a two year pandemic hiatus. The exhibit is open to all in Hyde Park (adjacent to St James Station) until October 9th.

Images © Brian Cassey – “Covid Vax & Ice Cream” – top and second from left bottom image (other individual works © the artists) … Thanks (once again) to my subject Leanne.

2022 "Australian Life" photo awards - Hyde Park, Sydney - Art & About - "Covid Vax & Ice Cream" by Brian Cassey

Pollux and Barcelona …

August 22, 2022

… very nice news this week … mainly that Leanne and my image “Covid Vax & Ice Cream” (yeah … that one again) has been declared the Winner of the 2022 ‘Pollux International’ award ‘People’ prize. Yay …

Best part of the news is that ‘“Covid Vax & Ice Cream” will now be exhibited ‘on the wall’ of the Fotonostrum Gallery, Barcelona, Spain in October as part of the 7th Biennial of Fine Art and Documentary Photography.

Icing on the cake is that my two other works … “Mother Africa” (Aurora Coulter) and “Scooter” (Paralympian Grant ‘Scooter’ Patterson) … were also each recognised with an ‘Honourable Mention’ in Portrait. (Pleasingly the first recognition for the “Scooter” image. Thanks Scooter !)) Happy with that …

Images © Brian Cassey

2022 Pollux International Photo Awards - People - "Covid Vax & Ice Cream" - image by Brian Cassey

Leanne … You International Star You … !

August 4, 2022July 13, 2022

Two pieces of ‘news’ that I’ve known about for a little while but had to stay ‘dumb’ about … Leanne and “Covid Vax & Ice Cream” has done it again … twice !

Firstly, my portrait of Leanne with her post Pfizer jab ice cream in Yarrabah (top below), has been selected as a Finalist in the prestigious planet wide ‘Kuala Lumpur International Portrait Prize’ (KLPA). The three selected as major prize winners of the award have now been announced, whilst all the thirty four Finalists will make up a KLPA exhibition at the GMBB gallery in Malaysia’s capital from the 16th September till the 2nd of October. It will be well worth a visit if you happen to be in KL … especially to see on the wall the beautiful winning entry by Australian Carole Mills Noronha entitled ‘Wonder’.

Very gratifying … and more so as KLPA has donated the proceeds from the award to be shared equally by Disaster Emergencies Committee and the United Nations Crisis Response to aid Ukrainian refugees.

It’s the third time I’ve been fortunate to be selected in the ‘Kuala Lumpur International Portrait Prize’. On the first occasion (pre covid in 2013) I travelled to Kuala Lumpur for the exhibition opening and presentation. My successful work that year was “Roustabout” … and it did look fabulous (and big) on the gallery wall (centre below).

Last year 2021 – despite being selected as a finalist for the second time with “Aurukun Generations” (also below) – a visit to KL was Covid problematic. The exhibition of portraits was delayed and delayed … until the works finally appeared on the exhibition gallery walls at the the GMBB creative community centre in Bukit Bintang, KL in January and February this year.

The works selected as this years Finalists may be found here … https://www.klphotoawards.com

Secondly … received the news that “Covid Vax & Ice Cream” also made the Shortlist selection (from a grand total of 4,482 works) in the annual National Portrait Gallery London ‘Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize’ … the second year in a row I’ve been shortlisted. Third time luckier ?

Earlier this year “Covid Vax & Ice Cream” was also selected in the World wide ‘Portrait of Humanity’ awards … and a Finalist in the ‘Percival Photographic Portrait Prize’ at the Perc Tucker Gallery in Townsville.

… and … there’s yet another exciting announcement for “Covid Vax & Ice Cream” coming up soon 😉 ! Thanks Leanne … !

Kulala Lumpur International Portrait Prize (KLPA) 2022 - Finalist - Covid Vax & Ice Cream - by Brian Cassey

Kulala Lumpur International Portrait Prize (KLPA) 2013 - Finalist - 'Roustabout' - by Brian Cassey

Kuala Lumpur International Portrait Prize (KLPA) 2021 - Finalist - 'Generations - Aurukun' - by Brian Cassey

Three (New) Images Selected in Percival Portrait Prize …

July 10, 2023March 5, 2022

Chuffed that three of my portraits are getting their FIRST award recognition after being selected yesterday (Friday) as Finalists in the bi-annual Percival Portrait Prize. They will be exhibited on the gracious walls of the historic Perc Tucker Gallery in Townsville.

The award runs in conjunction with the Percival Painting Portrait Prize and attracts entries from around Australia and Internationally.

Nice to see these three more recent images selected … ‘Covid Vax & Ice Cream’ (top – Leanne at Yarrabah after her Covid vaccination), ‘Mother Africa’ (centre – African American Aurora Coulter) and ‘Graham Elms – Legendary Larrikin’ (bottom) … all made in far north Queensland in the last few months.

‘Covid Vax & Ice Cream’ was made for a The Australian story on the door to door vaccination program in the indigenous community of Yarrabah. ‘Mother Africa’ … of Colorado USA raised African American Aurora Coulter … was made to depict the historic plight of black Americans, an issue very close to Aurora’s heart. ‘Graham Elms – Legendary Larrikin’ was made for a Sunday Mail series on … well … ‘Larrikins’. Graham is your archetypal far north Queensland bad boy of old.

It’s now three ‘Percival’s’ in a row that I have had work selected to be exhibited … three works in 2018 here … and two in 2016 here.

The winners of this years Percival Photographic Portrait Prize will be selected and announced at the exhibition opening at Perc Tucker Gallery in Townsville on the 23rd April and will show till July 3rd.