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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

Dahi Handi & Australian Photography Magazine …

March 5th, 2020

It’s taken a while to happen … but finally very pleased to see a double page spread in the latest edition of Australian Photography magazine showcasing an image I made at an Hindu Dahi Handi event in Mumbai … and my story of how this image came about.

The pic was made back in September ’18 on a working visit to Mumbai which coincided with the annual festival of Krishna Janmashtami … one of the most important festivals in India which celebrates the birth anniversary of Lord Krishna, one of the most widely revered gods of Hinduism.

At once a religious celebration and a sport (it was classified by the government as an adventure sport in 2014), Dahi Handi is performed the day after Lord Krishna’s birthday every year on what seems like almost every street in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Teams of up to a hundred young ‘Govindas’ form human pyramids in an attempt to reach and smash a pot … the ‘Handi’ … filled with yoghurt and suspended tens of metres above them. The event is based on the legend that a baby Lord Krishna used creative ways to steal milky treats which were supposedly hung high out of reach.

Two India based good friends … S Anand Singh from Varanasi and Mumbai based former pic ed Srienivas Akella … thankfully joined me as we navigated Mumbai’s manic rail system across town to one of the best Dahi Handi venues. The pyramid building (bottom image) was breathtaking and not without incident … but I kept coming back to an image I made of a ritual performed by one of the teams. One of the Mumbai media photographers passed on a tip to watch out for this ritual performance of togetherness and team work before commencement of their pyramid build. The image was made from the fourth floor balcony of an adjoining residential block. Many teams around the surrounding streets got into serious pyramid building and pot smashing … but only one team seemed to perform this ritual.

The full story and the image itself across the fold can be seen in the Australian Photography March edition available at newsagents across the land … (or you may be able to just about make out the words on the magazine pages grab below 🙂 )

My Thanks to Australian Photography editor Mike O’Connor for the run.

Images © Brian Cassey, & publication Australian Photography magazine

Posted in Blog, Comment, Images, Publications, Stories, Stories | Tagged Australian Photography, Australian Photography Magazine, dahi handi, Hindu festival, human pyramid, Incredible India, india, Janmashtami, Krishna, Maharashtra, Mumbai, photojournalism, travel photography | 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

Passion for India … @sandwichlightindia …

September 30th, 2018

Excellent to be invited to be part of another very worthwhile Instagram feed … even if this one does have the initially puzzling name of @sandwichlightindia.

Sandwichlightindia … created by Queensland photographer and ‘Indophile’ Russell Shakespeare … is a collective platform for “photographers who are passionate about India” … and the invited membership, including (but not only) very talented photographer colleagues Marco Del Grande, Warren Clarke, Brendan Esposito, Peter Wallis and S Anand Singh, certainly show a love for imagery on the subcontinent.

The catalyst for the name ‘sandwichlightindia’ was explained to me by Russell. Seems he and Varanasi photographer Anand Singh were together on an assignment during the Hindu ‘Festival of Lights’ … Diwali. The pic idea was to portray a certain candle lit location at twilight. When they got to the location at dusk the candles weren’t lit and the light was fading.

Russell heard Anand and other local photographers saying “Sandwich light no good, sandwich light no good” … one even repeating it to a pic editor on the other end of the phone. Seems that the term compared the light to a sandwich … one slice of bread is too dark, the other slice too light … and all the good stuff (balanced and just right light) is in the middle of the sandwich!

… and that’s how @sandwichlightindia was born.

The feed is still in it’s infancy … Russell admits that the name means it’s hard to just come across … but the work and depiction of Indian life makes it well worth a visit and a follow. If you have any interest in quality photojournalism and India I urge you to do so …

I’m also a member of two other high profile Instagram photographer collectives … @everydayclimatechange (addressing climate change issues around the World through imagery … currently 114,000 followers) and @everydayaustralia (depictions of daily life in Australia … 54,000 followers).

Below are a selection of images from @sandwichlightindia by my colleagues … from top © Russell Skakespeare, A Anand Singh, Marco Del Grande, Warren Clarke and Peter Wallis.

Posted in Blog, Comment, Essays, Images, Photographers, Stories, Travel | Tagged B&W, collective, india, photography collective, photography from India, photojournalism, portraiture, Russell Shakespeare, sandwich light, sandwichlightindia | Leave a comment

Mumbai … India …

September 25th, 2018

Not long back from a very rewarding stint in Mumbai … India’s pulse …

Worked on a few potential photo stories … some with more success than others … and formed friendships with two great experienced Indian photographers.

S Anand Singh … freelance photojournalist and ‘Mr Varanasi’ … made the long trek from Benares to act as my invaluable fixer. Anand introduced me to Mumbai photojournalist legend Srienivas Akella (Srini for short!). Srini is a former associate photo editor at the Indian Express and was the driving force behind the Solaris Images picture agency. The two of ’em introduced me to members of the Mumbai media photo community …. some of which I found I had ‘connections’ to … and the delights of the Mumbai Press Club. They were also tireless in working through our pretty packed picture agenda.

Anand and Srini guided me through the complexities of the amazing Mumbai urban train system (which it is said moves approximately 9 million people every day) as we traversed the mega city to venues that I may never have discovered.

As I havn’t yet managed to edit all the work that I made in a hectic but thoroughly enjoyable visit … I’ve posted below just a few images from some of those stories we worked on. There’s a pic (bottom) from a far too short, minutes long, visit to a Kushti (Indian wrestling) akhara (would have liked much more time to document properly … despite the fact that many photographers have worked on this before), an image (second from top) from the Dahi Handi festival celebrating a young Lord Krishna, one from a set on dabbawallahs (the men who deliver the cities lunches) … and just one (top) from a pic essay I am very fond of … “The Typewriter Wallahs of Mumbai” … which I’ll post on my web site soon. There will be more at a later date …

Thank You Anand and Srini for making it all possible . Really looking forward to working with you again in the future …

(Stop Press … Srini is planning to use his vast experience of India to organise photo tours for photographers to visit the subcontinent from Australia . Stay tuned for more news on that … )

Images © Brian Cassey

Posted in Comment, Essays, Images, Stories, Travel | Tagged dabbawallahs, dahi handi, india, indian wrestling, kushti, Maharashtra, Mumbai, photojournalism, portraiture, turtle hatchery, turtles, typewriter, typewriters, wallah, wallahs | Leave a comment

India Images … a Reprise …

June 17th, 2018

Very refreshing to see some of my work from India a few years back given a new lease of life in print this weekend.

The piece was published in the ‘Weekend Post’ edition of ‘Cairns Eye’ magazine … the story entitled ‘Global Wanderers’ consisting of text and pics from three “eternal travellers” … Cairns personalities who “view the World through a different lens”. The other two ‘travellers’ are underwater photographer and film maker Christian Miller and former Cairns … now Indonesian based … Balawyn Jones.

My first person one page piece told, accompanied by five photos, of a jaunt around Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh India with a couple of photographer colleagues (Rob Maccoll and Peter Wallis) in a classic Hindustan Ambassador taxi. With the invaluable and so pleasant help of our driver and Ambassador owner Kishore, we travelled to the best bits of both states and made myriads of images. In addition to the five images inside with my story, one pic from the Jaipur elephant festival was also used to grace the whole cover of ‘Cairns Eye’ (see below – I don’t believe that this elephant pic has had an airing in print before).

Won’t disclose the text and spoil it for readers … grab yourself a copy of the ‘Weekend Post’ for a read.

More of my work from India can be found on my web site at … https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/photographs/india/ … and … https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/photographs/india-redux-2016/

Below are grabs of the ‘Cairns Eye’ cover (with Jaipur elephant image) and page nine with my text/images.

Images © Brian Cassey and The Cairns Post.

Cairns Post - Cairns Eye Travel Issue - Global Wanderers - India images by Brian Cassey

Posted in Comment, Images, Publications, Stories, Travel | Tagged Ambassador, elephant, Ganges, Hindustan Ambassador, Holi, india, Jaipur, Jaipur Elephant Festival, jodhpur, Rajasthan, sari, uttar pradesh, Varanasi, wedding | Leave a comment

India … Redux … 2016

August 9th, 2016

… it’s five years since I visited India for a memorable journey with colleagues Rob Maccoll and Peter Wallis …one of the aims of which was to document life on a road trip from a – once ubiquitous, now disappearing – iconic Hindustan Motors Ambassador (an Indian version of the British 1950’s Morris Oxford).

We found our Ambassador and real gentleman driver Kishore in Jodhpur and travelled – not without incident – through the states of Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan … and between us amassed a few photographs.

On returning to Australia I managed a quick edit of the total images and published a pic essay on my personal web site and the ‘fotostrada’ site entitled “India in an Ambassador” which you can find at … www.briancasseyphotographer.com/photographs/india/ .. .and … www.fotostrada.com/brian-cassey/india-in-ambassador/BCRaja1/.

However, just the other day I was searching for one of the original pic files and delving into the India archive. I kept noticing images that I had missed during the original edit. So I kept looking …

This is the result – “India Redux 2016” – 34 essentially NEW images that have never seen ‘the light of day’ before … from New Delhi, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Agra, Vrindavan, Pushkar, Jaipur and Varanasi and the roads in-between.

(That’ll learn me to take more care during big edits … !)

The new essay is now live on my site at … https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/photographs/india-redux-2016/ … and also in ‘Latest Stories’ on the ‘fotostrada’ photojournalist web site at … http://www.fotostrada.com/latest-stories/india—redux-2016/BCIndiaRedux28v/

Below are just three teaser images from the new essay … top and bottom from Jodhpur, middle from Varanasi.

Images © Brian Cassey

Posted in Blog, Comment, Essays, Images, Stories, Travel | Tagged delhi, india, Jaipur, jodhpur, photojournalism, pushkar, Rajasthan, Udaipur, uttar pradesh, Varanasi, vrindavan | Leave a comment

Masters of Photography …

January 18th, 2016

Somehow … and this was a surprise to me too … a selection of my work made in India from the “India in an Ambassador” essay has now just been featured on the “Masters of Photography” web site amidst some truly stunning company and work.

The site has for some years featured … up to now 😉 … the best photojournalism and photojournalists from around the planet and the collection of work is really something to pore over. Gawd knows what my images are doing amongst work of the highest calibre by PJ high flying legends such as … Steve McCurry (https://mastersofphotography.wordpress.com/2013/09/29/steve-mccurry/ & https://mastersofphotography.wordpress.com/2014/01/21/portraits-of-resilience-steve-mccurry/) … Lynsey Addario (https://mastersofphotography.wordpress.com/2015/02/10/lynsey-addario-2/) … the late Tim Hetherington (https://mastersofphotography.wordpress.com/2013/06/17/tim-hetherington/) …
Daniel Berehulak (https://mastersofphotography.wordpress.com/2015/04/24/daniel-berehulak-2/ & https://mastersofphotography.wordpress.com/2014/12/18/daniel-berehulak/) … James Nachtwey (https://mastersofphotography.wordpress.com/2012/12/23/james-nachtwey/) … and many many more crackers too numerous to mention.

The site at https://mastersofphotography.wordpress.com adds work on a daily basis (mine was added six days ago) and it is a ‘must see’ for anybody even vaguely interested in photojournalism and photography.

Below is a grab of the page showing just six of the sixteen “India in an Ambassador” images that featured on “Masters of Photography”. (The total ‘India’ collection constitutes 53 pics and they may be found on my web site here.)

Posted in Comment, Essays, Images, Travel | Tagged Addario, Berehulak, Hetherington, india, India in an Ambassador, Jaipur, Masters of Photography, McCurry, Natchtwey, photojournalism, portraits, Rajasthan, Udaipur, Varanasi | Leave a comment

Duncan Miller Gallery USA …

August 4th, 2014

Thanks to photography journalist and curator Alison Stieven-Taylor one of my images has been featured and offered for sale in the Duncan Miller Gallery (California) “Your Daily Photograph” selection.

Every day the Gallery selects a small percentage of the photographs submitted and offers just four for sale to the first person to ‘reserve’.

Apparently I’m humbly in very good company … “in the recent past images from Henri Cartier-Bresson, Andreas Gursky, Richard Misrach, Andre Kertesz, Edward Burtynsky and other photography legends have appeared in “Your Daily Photograph” … I’m told.

The price tag on my work is just slightly less than Gursky’s World record breaking photograph price of $4.3 million for the ‘Rhine II’. Compared to that my image is an absolute bargain …

Alison Stieven-Taylor is appearing as a guest curator on “Your Daily Photograph” for the month of August and she is responsible for the selection of my “Rajasthan Dancers”. Alison is a renowned journalist specialising in all matters of a photography nature. She is a contributor to many photo news magazines and web sites (including the prestigious L’Oeil de la Photographie) and also runs the ‘must read’ web site “Photojournalism Now”.

The link to my day of “Your Daily Photograph” is … http://eepurl.com/0eKtf … and the image in question – “Rajasthan Dancers” – appears below.

Posted in Blog, Comment, Exhibitions, Images, Travel | Tagged Alison Stieven-Taylor, Duncan Miller Gallery, india, photojournalism, photojournalism now, Rajasthan, Rajasthan Dancers, Your Daily Photograph | Leave a comment

A Win … and a Third … in the US …

July 8th, 2012

Just received the great news that TWO of my images featured in last nights presentation of awards at the “2012 Kellicutt International Juried Photo Show” in California. My image of Carol Mayer – “Carol – Burns Survivor” – was judged the overall Winner (very gratifying!), whilst my image from Udaipur India – “Rajasthan Dancers” gained a Third place!!!

The theme of this years show was “Vibrant” and it is indeed an honour to have two images selected by the judges from a large contingent of amazingly vibrant and accomplished works from around the World.

The jurors made some very nice comments in regards to my images … and I will ensure that Carol gets to see the comments made about the image of her below …

From juror Kate Jordahl – “Difficult to look at, but as the eyes are the windows to the soul, we see a soul strong and loving, sad and knowing. We are drawn into the tragedy and triumph of this women’s life. The photographer truly connected with Carol and allows us to see her with empathy and understanding.”

From juror Scott Atkinson – “At first I looked away from this print, but it’s impossible to escape the spirit in those eyes! The face, like a windswept landscape, is now burnished to a swirling patina by both time and the camera’s selective focus. The slightly smudged lipstick adds a touch of normal. But it’s those eyes, those sharply focused blue eyes, that show the vibrant world that lives behind the skin. They’ll follow you throughout the gallery.”

From juror Michael Collopy – “The deep blue calm of her eyes accented by her red lips provides the viewer a direct connection to her apparent triumph over tragedy that is written in her textured face. Her eyes follow you throughout the room. This is a visually arresting photograph that is beautifully and simply achieved. It has a profound result. I liked the fact the photographer chose natural light to illuminate this beautiful portrait. It is a tight crop that continues the honest, revealing and direct dialogue between the photographer and subject. The stunning result conveys the trust and connection that the photographer has achieved.”

Kate Jordahl also commented on the Rajasthan pic – “Movement and color join in a literal dance of light and life. This image captures the swirling dancers at the peak moment of this event showing us as only as photography can what we can feel but not actually see with our eyes.”

Seems like I get a very nice trophy (image below) and a little cheque … and the exhibition of the 45 Finalist images will continue at the Coastal Arts League Gallery in Half Moon Bay CA before the exhibition moves to the Calumet Gallery in San Francisco in August.

Would have been very nice to have been at the awards presentation in the U S of A on Saturday night … c’est la vie …

Below the pic of the trophy are my Winning and Third placed images – “Carol – Burns Survivor” and “Rajasthan Dancers” – © Brian Cassey

Posted in Awards, Comment, Exhibitions, Images | Tagged awards, California, dance, exhibition, india, portrait, Rajasthan, United States, US, vibrant | Leave a comment

Global Gallery and ‘Bus’ Portraits …

June 5th, 2012

An excellent evening last week at the Global Gallery in Paddington Sydney for the ‘opening’ of our ‘fotostrada’ collaborative exhibition – “Portraits on a Bus”.

The exhibit consisted of thirty prints by ‘fotostrada’ members Dean Lewins, Tracey Nearmy, Sam Mooy, Graham Crouch, Mark ‘Crusty’ Baker and myself – from geographically as far afield as India, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, all around Australia and even Antarctica – all of them portraying the bus passenger and the machines that convey them.

Gratifyingly it seemed that almost every photographer in Sydney had come along to have a look at the work (and down a free drink or two!) and it was excellent to spend just a little time with media imaging colleagues that I don’t get to catch up with too often!

The entire “Portraits on a Bus” work is now available – for those who were unable to get to Global Gallery – on the ‘fotostrada’ web site at http://www.fotostrada.com/#/latest-stories/portraits-on-a-bus/

In addition my own “Portraits on a Bus” essay, consisting of my exhibition images and a number that just missed out on the exhibition cut, are now on my personal web site at https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/images.php?imagefolder=bus

The “Portraits on a Bus” exhibition was held in conjunction with the “2012 Head On Photo Festival”. Below is a quick pic of the exhibition opening eve at Global Gallery.

Posted in Comment, Essays, Exhibitions, Images | Tagged australia, bus, exhibition, fotostrada, Global Gallery, hong kong, india, indonesia, photojournalism | Leave a comment

Two in Show …

May 3rd, 2012

Just received the news that two of my images – “Rajasthan Dancers” and “Carol – Burns Survivor” – have been selected as ‘Finalists’ in the United States based “2012 Kellicutt International Juried Photo Show – Through A Lens: Vibrant!”.

My images, along with other finalists from the US, the UK, Australia, India, Hong Kong, Canada and Puerto Rico, are part of the hanging exhibition that will be shown in galleries around California.

Prize winners will be announced during an awards ceremony at the Coastal Arts League Gallery in Half Moon Bay CA on July 7th before the exhibition moves to the Calumet Gallery in San Francisco in August.

You can see all the selected finalists images at … http://www.coastalartsleague.com/kellicutt/2012/HangingInShow/index.html … and I’m in some very good company. The selected photographs seem to cross almost all photographic disciplines and styles and will provide a fascinating exhibition. Just a pity I probably won’t be there to see it!

Below I’ve posted the two images selected as ‘Finalists’ – “Rajasthan Dancers” and “Carol – Burns Survivor”

Posted in Awards, Comment, Exhibitions, Images, Travel | Tagged awards, india, Kellicutt International Photo Show, portraits, United States | Leave a comment

Portraits on a Bus …

April 24th, 2012

The ‘fotostrada’ photojournalist collective – of which I am one member of a total of eleven – is showing a group exhibition entitled “Portraits on a Bus” as part of the “2012 Head On Photo Festival” .

The exhibition runs at the Global Gallery, Paddington, Sydney from Tuesday, 29th May to Sunday 3rd June with the grand opening eve on Wednesday 30th May from 6pm. All are welcome to attend.

Here’s the exhibit description from the Head On Festival program and web site …

“The bus is ubiquitous. Every country on the planet has some form of bus transportation.

From cramped roof top rides on dishevelled buses in India … to tiny ‘bemos’ in Indonesia, mundane mass transport in Hong Kong, luxury express buses in Australia … even a work bus in Antarctica – the ‘fotostrada’ collective team has captured all in images which convey the very essence of the travelling bus passenger and the machines that carry them.”

Several of my images made during visits to India, Hong Kong and Indonesia are featured in the exhibition alongside other great work by colleagues Dean Lewins, Tracey Nearmy, Graham Crouch, Sam Mooy, Renee Nowytarger, Mark ‘Crusty’ Baker and Melanie Russell.

I’ve put together my own personal extended version of “Portraits on a Bus” from all my images that made the short list for the exhibition collection … and this essay has been added to my personal web site at https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/images.php?imagefolder=bus.

Posted below is a small selection of my “Portraits on a Bus” images.

Look forward to seeing you at the exhibition …

Posted in Comment, Essays, Exhibitions, Images, Travel | Tagged bali, essay, exhibition, fotostrada, Global Gallery, Head On, Head On Festival, hong kong, india, indonesia, photojournalism, Portraits on a Bus | Leave a comment

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