‘Veronica’ Wins MIFA Gold …
But wait … there’s more ! Hot on the heels of the wonderful 2022 ‘International Portrait Photographer of the Year’ results … see the post on the 25th of June … has come the results from the 2022 ‘Moscow International Foto Awards’ (MIFA). (N.B – not political or warmongering in any way).
The great new news is my images picked up two gongs … a Winning shiny Gold in the ‘Editorial’ category and a Bronze in the ‘People’ category.
Really stoked to see ‘Veronica – Where Home Brew Kills’ … an image I made (top below) in Mornington Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria whilst covering the story of a dangerous home brew alcohol epidemic in the community … take out the Gold placement in Editorial & Environment. It’s the second time it’s caught the eye, winning an ‘Honourable Mention’ earlier this year in the 2022 17th Pollux Awards. (Will prepare a print for Veronica and her family and deliver to them when next I get to Mornington Island.)
Also in the MIFA mix was my portrait of the delightful African American Aurora (bottom of this post) entitled ‘Mother Africa’ which won a Bronze award in People/Culture. The aim of ‘Mother Africa’ was to represent the ill treatment of Aurora’s African forbears in the America’s over the centuries. The work is racking up a list of recognitions with previous selections in 2022 The Percival Portrait Prize, the 2022 International Color Awards and the 2022 International Portrait Photographer of the Year.
Huge Thanks to Veronica and Aurora … can’t do this stuff without wonderful subjects.
Without overdoing it … there’s a couple of more bits of good news coming … but I’m not allowed at this stage to share the details 🙂
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