Back to PNG …

Just back from another ‘interesting’ week in Papua New Guinea where I worked on a couple of new stories. It’s never dull working in and with the people of PNG … and this trip was certainly no exception.

The ‘uncertainties’ that always surface when working in the country were intensified on this trip – and ‘tales’ will be told in the future I’m sure. Due to publishers request the exact story lines of the work cannot be divulged at this time (and I haven’t got far into the writing side of things as yet) … but below I’ve posted three images made during my time on the PNG visit last week … as a bit of a teaser.

All images © Brian Cassey 2014

20140610_PNG2   20140613_PNGJulie1   Ex Cairns Australia  pic by Brian Cassey Pic by Brian Cassey

Curating ‘The Genesis Project’ …

In just two weeks I will officially lose my ‘curatorial virginity’ when “The Genesis Project” – a feature and headlining exhibition event of the ‘2014 Head On Photo Festival’ – opens on May 20th at the ‘M Contemporary Gallery’ in Woollahra Sydney.

‘Genesis’ is the result of the germ of an idea, persistence and a lot of hard work … and the faith of ‘Head On’ director Moshe Rosenzveig.

The concept of the exhibit is to examine ‘at what point do photographers become photographers’ ?

What were the catalysts that transformed a child, teen, young adult into a potential devoted pro photographer. The moments when through creating an image they realised “this is what I want to do – become a photographer and make photographs – to capture life’s moments”.
I have asked renowned photographers from a range of photographic disciplines to delve back into their individual photography archives from childhood and onwards – and rediscover some of their first photographs taken on their first, sometimes primitive, cameras – images from their first rolls of colour – their first pics on an SLR – their first published photograph – and the moments that moved or excited them.
To tell the stories of those formative creative moments that helped mould them into the experienced passionate photographers that they have now become.

We have assembled fabulous unseen images and previously untold stories from our photographers who share their insights into their compelling work from their earlier days experimenting with or developing as a photographer and the pivotal moments in their careers.

Here is our impressive list of contributing photographers – Ben Lowy, Roger Ballen, Murray Fredericks, Chris Rainier, David Dare Parker, Fiona Wolf, Jackie Ranken, Katrin Koenning, Martine Perret, Sam Harris, Glenn Campbell, Jon Lewis, Peter Eastway, Craig Golding, John Donegan, Peter Solness, Phil Hillyard, Moshe Rosenzveig … and then there’s me too …

I thank them all.

All are more than welcome to attend the opening eve of a very different and engaging photographic exhibition, Tuesday May 20th from 6.30pm at ‘M Contemporary Gallery’, E37 Ocean Street, Woollahra, Sydney.

You may bag yourself a real photographic collectors item.

Below is one of my two personal ‘seminal’ images  – made many many  decades ago in Portugal on the first roll of colour transparency film I ever shot – that will be one of the works on sale at “The Genesis Project”. The image has been scanned directly from the original faded, mouldy and dusty Agfa slide. To see the full story behind behind it and the similar works of our contributing photographers please come to the exhibition that will run from opening night May 20th till June 8th.

Image © Brian Cassey

GenesisBrianCasseyPortugalBlog

Sunshine Coast … & Nikon-Walkley …

Just returned from three days ‘down south ‘at Mooloolaba southern Queensland, courtesy of  the Walkley Foundation and the University of the Sunshine Coast.

My (rather pleasant) tasks over the three days were to ‘talk my head of’ on the subject of photojournalism at the ‘Ord Minnett Art & Architecture Lecture’ series, host five classes of University journalism students … and perform as ‘guest speaker’ at the Sunshine Coast opening of the ‘Nikon Walkley Press Photography Exhibition’.

Despite torrential rain and flash flooding (Sunshine Coast ?) all the events were extremely well attended. The ‘Nikon Walkley Press Photography Exhibition’ was hung by the charming USC Gallery curator Dawn Oelrich and the prints were very well presented and lit in the campus Gallery ‘space’. Well over a hundred braved the lousy weather on Thursday eve to attend, view the work selected as Australia’s best press pics of 2013 and listen to myself rabbit on about photojournalism and my and the other finalists work. CEO of the Walkley Foundation and MEAA Federal Secretary – Chris Warren – was also in attendance to address the throng.

On the previous night over thirty five souls were brave enough to withstand over an hour of my ‘Ord Minnett’ lecture. To support my words on the subject of photojournalism I also projected over a hundred images and demonstrated some obscure pieces of camera kit. Some of the pics and some of the kit dated back … well … a few decades.

I also spoke to five classes of journalism students … almost a hundred in total … on the press photography in the gallery (including mine of course) and the fragile  future of photojournalism. Several young students were, however, determined to continue along the PJ path.

Still, it made a pleasant change to spend my time talking about pictures rather than making them.

In case you missed it you can find my selected ‘Nikon Walkley Press Photographer of the Year’ portfolio here … http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkleyfoundation/sets/72157636407740096/

Below are two quick pics from the exhibition opening eve of guests checking out the wall with my selected ‘Nikon Walkley Press Photographer of the Year’ print portfolio.

All images © Brian Cassey

WalkleyExhSunshineCoastBlog1

WalkleyExhSunshineCoastBlog2

 

 

More Trip Pics …

Still trying to find the time to edit all the images from the just completed trip to the UK, France, China and Japan. (See previous post below).

Came across these two when doing a further cursory edit yesterday.

The top image was made at the Sensoji Temple in Asakusa Tokyo Japan.  A Buddhist devotee is praying amidst the incense smoke – worshippers believe that immersing oneself in the smoke purifies, heals and brings good luck. The temple complex dates back to 645AD.

The second image was made at the village of Beizhai about an hours drive from Beijing China. An itinerant worker rests from the carting of all his possessions.

Images © Brian Cassey 2014

TokyoAsakusaBlog

20140107_Beijing1002BLOG

Travel … UK, France, China, Japan …

Just returned from a five week trip to the UK, France, China and Japan. Ostensibly it was for recuperation and a respite from taking pics (with the bonus of a UK Christmas).

However, as a freelance, the reality is that far too many pic opportunities regularly rear their heads whilst travelling … and I always found myself lugging at least one camera (Nikon Df, Fuji XE-1, Fuji X100), sometimes more (in addition to the obvious iPhone for the odd Instagram). There is a persistent deep seated optimism that images made on a trip may make the odd dollar/quid somewhere down the track!

Occasionally hefting the kit paid dividends … (although how I failed to leave at least one camera or lens in any of bar, bistro, boulangerie, museum, gallery, palace, temple, hotel, hutong, noodle or teppanyaki restaurant is beyond me … )

Below I’ve posted just a few of my favourite images from the past weeks overseas.

Unfortunately, I left Japan on the day the big January Grand Sumo Tournament commenced at the National Sumo Hall in Ryogoku Tokyo, so I decided to get up very early the previous day and attempt to catch Sumo in last minute training at their ‘Beya’ or Sumo ‘stables’. The stables were very difficult to find … and when found even more difficult to gain access. (I now understand the Japanese ‘sign’ for ‘NO’!)

However, persistence paid off … and I made the top image below through a small glass window of Sumo going through their final training session.

What must be the most bizarre rail journey on the planet was the subject of the second image.
The weirdly named ‘Shanghai Pedestrian Transit Tunnel’ runs from the beautiful Bund under the Huangpu River to the new Pudong skyscraper district of Shanghai China. It isn’t a ‘pedestrian’ tunnel at all … passengers are transported under the river in little carriages and assaulted with a trippy light and sound show during the four minute journey. Money … and not just a few dollars … well spent! (in contrast the ferry across the river costs less than 35 cents!).

The image gives some sense of the insanity of the journey.

In the third image … there is no place better to read a book on a sunny but bloody cold winters day than on the pavement of the Avenue Victoria on the west bank of the Seine in Paris !

Images © Brian Cassey

20140111_TokyoSumoBlog

Shanghai Pedestrian Tunnel

20131220_ParisBlog

Revamped Web Site ‘Live’ … !

If you are reading this then my new totally revamped web site is now LIVE!

Although the overall feel and look of the new site  is reminiscent of the older one it is actually a complete rewrite and you will notice huge improvements. The images have all been reworked and resized and now display much larger whilst automatically adjusting to fit the size of the viewing screen. So … if you have a large monitor the images will show nice’n’BIG!

In addition – site navigation has been much improved, new previously unseen photo essays and images have been added, the awards page has been updated … and there is now a brand new additional page -‘Play’- which features slide shows and multi media content.

A very patient and understanding Karl Sandoval from Julian Communication was responsible for the great work on the revamp … and he can now relax and stop dreading my continuous flood of emails!

All in all the new revamped site should greatly improve the viewing experience. If you find any bugs or glitches … or have any comments at all on the new site … please leave a comment here or email me at … Thanks!

Below is a screen shot of the new main page showing the improved navigation to the various photographic portfolios and images etc.

© Image Brian Cassey

NewSiteBlog

Bigger Pics Close …

Thanks to Karl Sandoval and Julian Communication the web site revamp is just days away. On completion you will notice the images are rendered much larger than on the old site – with pics adjusted for viewing screen size. Navigation will also be improved. You will also notice other tweeks and improvements. Will update you all here when the new site goes ‘live’.

Dogs … Pooches … Woofers … Whatever …

“The Dogs of Sai Kung” photo essay that I made in Hong Kong recently has been a bit of a hit with the Daily Telegraph in the UK.

Their glossy weekend magazine ran the pics as a full four page spread under the title “Barking Mad” using seven images and a very nice story by journalist Jessica Salter. (Thanks Jess !)

On the Daily Telegraph web site TWO of the images from the set starred – alongside images of Prince Will and Princess Kate, the Taliban in Afghanistan, Islamic protests against THAT movie, the Aurora Borealis through the polar ice and other pics from around the World  – in the “Pictures of the Day” gallery for the 18th September. 

The DT also ran another separate full gallery of seventeen Sai Kung doggy images under the title of  “The Pampered Dogs of Hong Kong”.

Nice to get a good run with these images that, to be honest, were not a priority at the time on the Hong Kong trip … and were all made just on a nice Sunday at the very pleasant Sai Kung seaside.

Below I’ve posted – from top – two images of the Daily Telegraph magazine four page spread “Barking Mad” and one image each from the “Pictures of the Day” gallery and “The Pampered Pooches of Hong Kong” gallery.

The complete essay (twenty six images) can be found either on my my personal web site at … https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/images.php?imagefolder=saikung 

… or on the web site of my collective ‘fotostrada’ at … http://www.fotostrada.com/#/latest-stories/the-dogs-of-sai-kung/BCskDogs1

All images © Brian Cassey

Instagrammification …

… is the title of a new book I’ve just published containing a selection of 80 images from my Instagram collection. Random images – no particular theme – and no text to speak of.

Just the images … all taken on the (now nearly antique) iPhone4

‘ INSTAGRAMMIFICATION ‘ is 7″x7″ (17.78cms x 17.78cms), available as a hard cover edition, soft cover or eBook … and … if you are interested there are more details and order information on my web site ‘Books’ page here.

Below is image of the cover … © Brian Cassey

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

 

Soulless in Seoul (2) …

My newest essay “Soulless in Seoul” – on the evictions of homeless in Seoul South Korea (see post below) – is now also available on my personal photojournalism site proper at … https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/images.php?imagefolder=seoul

Soulless in Seoul …

Whilst spending two days in Seoul South Korea after exhibiting at the Gwangju Design Biennale 2011,  I came across an evolving story that produced a compelling photo essay. Korail – the State owned railway operator – has commenced the forcible eviction of several hundred homeless from the main new Seoul railway station and the original restored 1925 station adjoining. Many of these homeless were victims of various financial crises over the years and, some, long time residents of the station complex.

At present Korail are removing people from the station building from the hours of 1.30am to 4.30am – but the action has only resulted in the homeless bedding down out in the open in the surrounding station precinct and in adjoining underpasses.

Various activists, churches and civic organisations have rallied to support the homeless but Korail has no intention of reversing the decision.

South Korea is one of the most dynamic economies on the planet and hurtling towards a place in the ‘Top Ten’ list … but the States treatment of it’s senior and less fortunate citizens appears less ’21st century’.

I’ve posted the full story and photo essay of 22 images on the ‘fotostrada’ website in “Latest Stories” … and a small selection of just four images below. As soon as time permits the essay will also be posted to my personal web site.

Images © Brian Cassey 2011