Tokyo … and “Mother Africa” …

…  nice timing and Merry Xmas …

Early in the hours of Christmas Eve an email dropped in with the nice news that my image “Mother Africa” had been selected again … this time for a “Bronze” award in the ’22 Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA) Fine Art category.

So pleased that this work has gained attention. To be accurate the making of this image (in a friends little basic shed studio) engendered a lot of emotion … and tears.  My subject, the delightful currently Australia based  African American Aurora Coulter,  knew the ‘look’ that would make the photograph ‘work’ at depicting the historical … (and still current when you take into consideration the death of black man George Floyd and others at the hands of police officers etc) … treatment of her forebears in the US. Aurora dug into the depths of past memories and experiences for this image … and for that I’m so grateful. Her emotion made it ‘work’.

“Mother Africa” has been selected previously in other awards since it was made in January earlier this (nearly over) year … the International Portrait Photographer of the Year, The Pollux Awards, the International Photography Awards (IPA), Budapest International Foto Awards (BIFA), Moscow International Foto Awards (MIFA), the Percival Portrait Prize … and … another arguably more prestigious prize that I am not at liberty yet to tell anyone about 🙂

Once again Aurora … the very biggest Thanks … !

Image © Brian Cassey

Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA) 2022 - WINNER - Bronze Award - Fine Art - image by Brian Cassey

“Mother Africa” in International Photography Awards (IPA) …

Must admit … there was a lot of emotion entailed in making this image “Mother Africa”. Without getting too personal my captivating subject Aurora Coulter was heavily invested in the subject, history and experience of making this work. Aurora … normally vibrant and ebullient … dug deep into past personal experiences to channel the emotional plight of her African American forebears over the centuries. There were tears …

So … I’m delighted as much for Aurora as for myself that this work has been recognised several times around the planet … the latest being last weeks notification of an “Honourable Mention” in the ‘Portrait’ section of the 2022 International Photography Awards (IPA).

Over the last few months “Mother Africa” … made in January this year in a friends shed studio (Thanks Marc) … has also catalogued other mentions in … the 2022 Pollux Awards (Portrait – Honourable Mention), the Moscow International Foto Awards (People Culture – Bronze Award), the 2022 International Portrait Photographer of the Year (Published in IPPOTY Top 101 Portraits selection and book), the 2022 Percival Photographic Prize (Townsville – Finalist) and the 15th International Colour Awards (Portrait – Finalist).

Even later news (from just last eve) … “Mother Africa” will be one of the thirty works exhibited in an inaugural portraiture exhibition at the Crate 59 Gallery in Cairns.

“The Burning Cane Portrait Exhibition” (for portraiture in any medium made this year by Queensland artists) will open on the 4th of November and run for three weeks. “Mother Africa” will be there (very) large on the walls from the celebratory opening event … which, sadly, I will miss as I’ll be at the launch of the 2022 Head On Photo Festival in Sydney. More on both of these events at a later date.

Image © Brian Cassey (and massive Thanks again Aurora !)

‘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

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

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

Silver and Bronze in Moscow International …

… yippee … at the risk of overdoing it … announced last week  … two Silver Awards and a Bronze Award in the 2021 Moscow International Foto Awards (MIFA).

‘The Yarrick Family of Kunhanhaa’ (Mornington Island) won ‘Silver’ in the People category (the images first International recognition) … whilst ‘Tears For George Floyd (8 Minutes and 46 Seconds)’ also won ‘Silver’ in Editorial (it’s third International recognition). ‘The Kids of Ali Curung’ … made in the remote township of the Northern Territory last year … was awarded the ‘Bronze’ award in the People category (it’s second International recognition).

The images will be shown at Russian and international art communities in galleries and art centres. (TBA) and can also be found in an expansive online ‘E- Book’ at … https://www.moscowfotoawards.com/2021_MIFA_eBook.pdf

The Moscow awards has been a rewarding regular over the years since 2014.

Happy Days …

Images © Brian Cassey

Moscow International Foto Awards (MIFA) - Silver Award - 'The Yarrick Family of Kunhanhaa' by Brian Cassey

Moscow International Foto Awards (MIFA) - Silver Award - '8 Minutes & 46 Seconds - Tears For George Floyd' by Brian Cassey

Moscow International Foto Awards (MIFA) - Silver Award - 'The Kids of Ali Curung' by Brian Cassey

Moscow, Moscow, Moscow …

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

Moscow, Moscow …

MIFA - Moscow International Foto Awards - Winner Editorial Sport - 'Tomotaro on the Block' - image by Brian Cassey

… Thanks to a congratulatory Facebook post from AP photographer and mate Mark ‘Crusty’ Baker, I learnt that my image “Tomotaro on the Block” has been announced as Second Place (Silver) Winner in the ‘Editorial Sport’ category of the 2019 Moscow International Foto Awards (MIFA) … and will be shown at the Moscow Photocenter, Gogolevsky Boulevard, 8 Moscow (119019, г.Москва, Гоголевский бульвар, д.8) from the opening event on 19th June to the 24th June. (The original notification from ‘MIFA’ ended up in my ‘Junk’ folder … Thanks Crusty!)

Sadly … as much as I’d like to … I can’t make it to Moscow to see it and the other winners on show. (unless someone out there feels inclined to donate a return airfare 😉 !  … NB … I haven’t yet visited Moscow !)

As I bit of compensation, however, it turns out that I also received a ‘Highly Commended’ for another of my images … “Victims of Sorcery – Dorcas” in the ‘Editorial Conflict’ category … a combined result that almost mirrors that of a few months ago in the 2019 Tokyo International Foto Awards (see post ‘Two Up in TIFA’ here). Gratified that both these images have so far picked up several accolades between them.

The image of Tomotaro was made whilst covering the Pan Pacific Para Swim Games in Cairns (for the Canadian swim team) … whilst the image of Dorcas was made whilst working on a story on sorcery and witchcraft in Papua New Guinea for News Ltd’s News 360.

Below … the two awarded images from the “Moscow International Foto Awards” web site (click on each to take you to the full web site page) … Images © Brian Cassey

 

MIFA - Moscow International Foto Awards - Winner Editorial Sport - 'Tomotaro on the Block' - image by Brian Cassey

MIFA - Moscow International Foto Awards - Editorial Sport - 'Tomotaro on the Block' - image by Brian Cassey

Carol in Moscow … !

Real chuffed to learn overnight that my new and recent portrait of the amazin’, courageous and beautiful burns survivor Carol Mayer – entitled “The Skin I’m In” (below) – won a Second Place in the Portrait category of this years “Moscow International Foto Awards” (MIFA).

A buzz to once again be selected as a winner in the MIFA’s (last year it was a First Place in the ‘Moving Image’ category with the short film “Eyes – The Soul of a Photograph”) alongside much amazing photographic talent from around the planet. The MIFA’s this year attracted entries from a massive 85 countries. Some brilliant work listed amongst the winners this year … in particular … Mary F. Calvert and Michele Palazzo (USA), Sandra Hoyn and Tom Jacobi (Germany), Danillo Balducci (Italy), Younes Mohammad (Iraq), and Sergey Ponomarev (Russia) … and more.

I’m so, so grateful to Carol for fearlessly agreeing to pose as she did for me in this new portrait … I’ve had this image ‘in my head’ now for some time and it’s almost a relief to actually complete it and now be able to let it go. (It’s the second time that Carol has featured in the “Moscow International Foto Awards” … my portrait of Carol focused on her wonderful eyes from a few years back won an Honourable Mention in the 2014 ‘MIFA’ Portrait contest.)

“The Skin I’m In” … along with the other powerful winners work … will be shown at the Moscow Na Kashirke Gallery (Галерея “На Каширке”, Москва, ул.Ак.Миллионщикова, д.35, корп.5) from the 20th July till the 7th August.

Image © Brian Cassey 2016

"The Skin I'm In" - Carol Mayer Moscow International Foto ASwards - winner by Brian Cassey

 

Julie … “Disko Meri” … Found ! …

I mentioned in a post back in April – “Disko Meri Does It Again” – that I had been so far unable to let my Papua New Guinea bar girl subject Julie know about the success of her portrait in various photography events and awards around the planet over the last couple of years … Sydney (Head On Portrait Prize) and Cairns (QMMA Awards) Australia, New York City (Photoville 2015), Moscow (MIFA), Hyderabad India (Head On) and the ‘International Color Awards’ to name but a few.

I made the image at the Diamond Club in a not too salubrious part of Port Moresby. The club does not have a telephone or internet presence and it was impossible to contact her.

So … during a nights stopover in Port Moresby on my way to Manus Island a few weeks ago I dropped into the Diamond Club armed with a print and accompanied by PNG friends Margo and Raymond. At first it seemed that Julie would never know as we were told she no longer works at Diamonds. Fortunately someone found her brother in law who was in the club that eve and he offered to jump in a taxi (at our expense) and go and pick her up.

About an hour later a very bemused and rattled Julie arrived and was presented with a large print and told of her World wide fame. Julie explained that she was no longer working and was now a (single) mother of twins!

In the two years since I made the image Julie had changed from a confident up front bar girl into a quieter softer more lissome young mother of two baby boys. She said she was going to give the print to her mum …

Below is a pic © Raymond Nugent (Thanks Raymond) … of Julie in the Diamond Club with her print.

Disko Meri - Julie - Diamond Club - PNG - Print - Brian Cassey

 

“Disko Meri” Does It Again …

“Disko Meri” – an image I made of nightclub bar girl Julie in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea – has been recognised yet again, taking out an “Honourable Mention” in the ‘Portrait’ category of the prestigious “9th International Color Awards”.

The planet wide annual photography awards bill themselves as “The World’s most watched photo show” and all winners were announced in a four and a half hour live streaming online event. Must admit I missed that bit …

“Disko Meri” has received quite a bit of attention over the past year or so … and previously was recognised in the ‘Head On Portrait Prize’, the ‘Moscow International Foto Awards’ (MIFA) and the ‘Queensland Multi Media Awards’.

Sadly … I have not been able to thank my subject Julie personally so far. The bar where she works in Port Moresby does not have either a phone number or internet presence. I intend on my next visit to Port Moresby to make it a priority to visit her again at the ‘Diamond Club’ to thank her and present her with a print … the very least I can do.

Below … and at the risk of boring you with it again … is the portrait of Julie – “Disko Meri”

Image © Brian Cassey

"DISKO MERI - PNG Bar Girl" - Honorable Mention 9th International Color Awards - Brian Cassey