| Brian Cassey Photographer Cairns Australia

Mono Awards & “Alf at 100” …

January 13, 2024September 19, 2023

Just quickly and not a biggie … but a little something to help keep the special memory of Alf Neal OAM alive …

This image below of Alf was from the last I made of the most significant aboriginal elder … one hundred year old Alf ‘Popeye’ Neal OAM … before he quietly passed away in May. You may read the story of that last time I photographed Alf on his balcony of his home in Yarrabah … and the massive impact he made to indigenous Australia over his ten decades … here at … https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/blog/images/2023/05/will-miss-you-alf-100/ … and here at … https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/blog/publications/2023/04/alf-at-a-hundred-and-the-sunday-mail/ .

So … you may be able to see why I am so pleased to receive a “Highly Commended” recognition for Alf’s pic in the 2023 “Mono Awards” for black and white imagery. The image means a lot to me … and it’s nice to see that others have appreciated Alf and his story.

Meanwhile, another image I made of Alf the week of Alf’s one hundredth birthday last October … “100 Years & 3 Weeks” … has been quietly and consistently racking up awards … with another few announcements imminent.

Image © Brian Cassey

Aurukun Artist Keith Wikmunea …

January 13, 2024September 5, 2023

… had the very distinct privilege and pleasure to travel to Aurukun on Cape York Peninsula recently to portray indigenous artist Keith Wikmunea. He then was soon to be announced the winner of the $100,000 Telstra Indigenous Art Award, the top prize at the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Awards (NATSIAA) in Darwin. Images of Keith and his work were required to spread around Australia’s media in conjunction with the story of his win.

I spent a thoroughly enjoyable couple of days with Keith and Wik & Kugu Aurukun Arts Centre Manager Gabe Waterman as our winner worked on sculpting a ‘camp dog’ in the arts centre workshop … and out and about at various locations around the indigenous township. Keith was patient and a delight.

His $100,000 sculptured milkwood winning work – entitled “Ku’, Theewith & Kalampang: The White Cockatoo, Galah and the Wandering Dog” – was inspired by his ancestors, says Keith. He has already spent his prize money on a boat and a car for his family.

My images of Keith appeared in The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald and many other print and web publications around Australia … and will also grace Sydney railway stations to spread the word about his win, his talent and the Telstra award.

Below are some of my favourite images of Keith in Aurukun and a mock up of the Telstra promotional banner work soon to be seen in Sydney stations.

Images © Brian Cassey

Kowanyama Portraits …

January 30, 2023

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

Indigenous Portraits froid Kowanyama Workshop - December 2022 by Brian Cassey

‘Veronica’ Wins MIFA Gold …

July 31, 2023July 2, 2022

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

Moscow International Foto Awards (MIFA) 2022 Winning images Gold Award - Editorial Environment - "Veronica - Where Home Brew Kills", Bronze Award - People Culture - "Mother Africa" by Brian Cassey

‘Ruby’ … Her Story … Her images …

June 2, 2022June 1, 2022

Thanks to the brilliant explosive but so so sad comprehensive three part story penned by journalist Kristin Shorten, I’ve in the past few days had an exceptional run in The Australian three editions in a row with several different portraits of ‘Ruby’ … a startlingly brave but severely damaged twenty one year old indigenous mother from the remote Northern Territory community of Yuendumu.

Over three front pages over three days and several more inside, Kristin tells in graphic horrific and ultimately the saddest detail, the story of ‘Ruby’ (not her real name), her multiple rapes at the hands of her father, the violence that is endemic in her NT community … and the aftermath of that violence as she fled to the relative safety of Cairns. For ‘Ruby’ that was indeed ‘relative’ as she found herself in jail and separated from her one year old son.

‘Ruby’ … who not surprisingly has difficulty trusting anyone … was charming to portray and, eventually, to talk to.

An aspiring artist, ‘Ruby’ uses her art to forget her brutal past. Sincerely hope her art thrives and the story of her future with her son is much brighter.

Huge thanks and a pleasure to be a part of Kristin’s fabulous work on this story that had to be told.

Here are my personal favourite portraits of ‘Ruby’ (from top) and grabs of The Aus page 1 and some of the other pages with my pics. Kristin’s comprehensive harrowing stories and more of my images can be found online … with a subscription … at …

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/indigenous/out-of-yuendumu-how-violence-seeps-through-generations/news-story/5d28ff3aa44699c9e89d884019a2a594

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/indigenous/rubys-story-i-didnt-want-dad-jailed-but-i-was-scared-he-would-kill-me/news-story/303ce27b48c7278aabc971833f822ed7

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/indigenous/father-free-to-unleash-four-month-reign-of-terror/news-story/060ca1e3716cf7642d0fef3382b3e39a

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/indigenous/rubys-story-i-want-to-go-back-home-but-i-dont-feel-safe-there/news-story/242e3968f716b96a55b9ac4186ee1a2a

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/rubys-art-thrives-in-her-baby-sons-shine/news-story/6537c9e30ed8251156cf66e38181b600

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/in-the-clamour-for-an-indigenous-voice-true-suffering-is-being-drowned-out/news-story/0b6fd8710fc0410a9a377fa8364f3824

Images © 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.

‘Gold’ X Two in Tokyo …

July 10, 2023December 24, 2021

Early Chrissy present from Tokyo …

It was only a week ago that I shared the news on here of two successes in the Budapest International Foto Awards (BIFA) … a Gold Award for “8 Minutes & 46 Seconds – Tears For George Floyd” in Editorial and a Silver Award for “The Yarrick Family Of Kunhanhaa” in People.

Well … seems Santa has come a day or two early as I just received the news that these two images have gone one better in the Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA) with both images winning ‘Gold’ !

So … rather than bashing out a similar post to the one a week ago I’ve copied it below … and updated it a bit 🙂

Here goes … 🙂

More news … this time from Hungary & Tokyo …

… these two images (below) have done it yet again! Announced this week … TWO Gold Awards in the 2021 Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA) for both “8 Minutes & 46 Seconds – Tears For George Floyd” (in Editoria) and “The Yarrick Family Of Kunhanhaa” (in People) … and a few days earlier … a Gold award in the 2021 Budapest International Foto Awards (BIFA) ‘Editorial’ for “8 Minutes & 46 Seconds – Tears For George Floyd”… and a Silver in ‘People’ for “The Yarrick Family of Kunhanhaa”.

Chuffed with that …

These two pics have been good to me … and have amassed a tidy number of other recognitions over the past year or so.

Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA) - WINNER - GOLD Awards X 2 - Editorial - "8 Minutes & 46 Seconds - Tears For George Floyd" ... & ... People, Family - "The Yarrick Family of Kunhanhaa" - by Brian Cassey

‘Deadly Threads’ at State Library of Queensland …

July 31, 2023October 17, 2021

Nice bonus travelling to Brisbane last weekend for The Clarions … when I accidentally came across my portrait work (massively printed) at the State Library of Queensland’s ‘Deadly Threads’ exhibition .

Was of the believe that It had already closed and I’d missed it … but an impromptu walk through SLQ and there was the big sign (accompanied by one of my large images) … ‘Deadly Threads – Where Did You Get That Shirt?’ … enter.

‘Deadly Threads’ is a showcase of singlets, shirts, polos and jerseys (over a 190) created by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from across Queensland. It explores the significance of these pieces as symbols of identity, celebration and unity. They have been developed to protest, commemorate special occasions and historical events and tell stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and cultures.

My part was to produce portraits of significant indigenous personalities wearing a range of these shirts for display around the exhibit and for promotional purposes. Around a dozen of my large portraits adorned the exhibition printed (in one case) up to a massive near four metres. I made the pics back in Cairns earlier this year in a little home made pop-up studio.

What I didn’t yet know was, that the day I stumbled into the exhibition last Sunday was it’s LAST day. When I returned next day with camera in hand to record the work, the staff were in the process of taking the exhibition down (hence the limited pics here 🙂 ).

The best news is that the ‘Deadly Threads’ exhibition is coming to Cairns very soon (you heard it first here) and will be open at the Cairns Regional Gallery in November/December.

Here’s links to the State Library of Queensland’s ‘Deadly Threads’ … https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/deadlythreads … and … https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/whats-on/deadly-threads-where-did-you-get-shirt

It will be well worth catching when it opens at the Cairns Art Gallery where my large portraits will again feature.

'Deadly Threads' at State Library of Queensland, Brisbane - Mural Photographic Prints by Brian Cassey