Two Selected in Percival Portrait Prize …

… just in ! Delighted to learn that two of my portraits have been selected amongst the ‘Finalists’ in the prestigious “Percival Photographic Portrait Prize”.

The biennial prize … held in conjunction with the “Percival Portrait Prize” for painting … is one of the major portrait events in Australia and attracts top artists in both creative expressions from around the country.

All the finalist works will be exhibited on the expansive walls of the stately Perc Tucker Regional Gallery in Townsville, with the exhibition launch eve and announcement of the prize winners on the 23rd of May. In a strange scenario the painting prize winner receives a $40,000 prize whilst the photographic portrait winner only warrants a $10,000 award. (not to be sniffed at though 😉 ). Looks like a little trek to Townsville for the eve …

It’s the fifth time in a row that my work has been selected amongst the Percival finalist mix … and you may see the previous selections here … 2024, 2022, 2020, 2018.

My two selected portraits in this years prize … both of which have received accolades in other awards and you may already be aware of … are “Unsculpted – Australian Artist Tony Clark” (top) and “Millionaire Castaway – David Glasheen”(bottom).

You may view all this years Percival painting and photographs portraiture finalists here.

Images © Brian Cassey

IRIS, Head On, Prix de la Photographie, Analog Sparks & Mono … Awards and Exhibitions …

… some unabashed self indulgent promotions and, well, recent updates regarding my work :-).

Firstly … can now reveal the image that was selected as a ‘Finalist’ in the prestigious Perth Centre of Photography portrait “IRIS Award” (see top below). My selected work “Unsculpted – Australian Artist Tony Clark” was kept confidential until last Friday eves exhibition opening event.

It’s the fourth time in a row that I have had works selected and exhibited as a prize finalist in this bi-annual award ( see my earlier ‘finalists’ from 2023, 2021 and 2019 ).

PCP describes the portrait prize thus … “Embracing unrestrained approaches to portraiture, the Award celebrates works of nuance, raw emotion, and personal connection — revealing the essence of human relationships and lived experience, whether in love, joy, desire, distance, or disconnection. We are invited into the shifting constellations of human sentiment, a space for reflection and dialogue on intimacy and identity in contemporary life.” 

The overall winner announced on Friday was ‘Sisterhood’ by Su Cassiano. Congrats Su !

The PCP “IRIS” exhibition of the thirty finalist portraits runs from the 4th to the 18th October at Cheap Tongue Gallery, Walyalup (Fremantle) Tuesday–Friday 10am–3pm. If you are in ‘The West’ I hope you can take it in … 🙂 .

On to November and the Head On Photo Festival for two pieces of nice news …

My latest exhibition in Australia’s premier photography festival … “Up North – Tropical People” … has now been confirmed. The work, pictorially portraying the wonderful inhabitants of the northern tropics of Australia, will grace the tranquil rustic walls of the Paddington Reservoir Gardens, Sydney from the 8th to the 30th November … and is free for everyone who wanders into the unique venue (second from top).

The judges at Head On have also selected one of my works … (that has to remain anonymous for now) … as a ‘Finalist’ in the festivals “Exposure Awards”. My selected photo will be in the ‘Exposure’ exhibition also displayed at Paddington Reservoir Gardens from the 8th to the 30th November and also free. All the award winners will be announced at a gala awards presentation at the Bondi Beach Pavilion on the eve of Friday the 7th. It’s always a really great event … !

Huge thanks to Moshe Rosenzveig OAM and the Head On Photo Festival team.

On to overseas now … and the news that TWO of my photographs were awarded ‘Bronze’ awards in the prestigious Paris based 2025 “Prix de la Photographie” (PX3). The awarded works are … “Millionaire Castaway – David Glasheen” (Press/People) and “Kids of Ali Curung” (Portrait) … (both below).

Exciting … but arguably more exciting was the recent announcement that an image I made several decades ago was selected as a ‘Silver’ award winner in the 2025 “Analog Sparks International Film Photography Awards” (fifth image down). The black and white film photograph of slalom water skier Steve Hook “On the Edge” last won me an award … the “Kodak Adidas Australian Sports Photograph of the Year” … exactly forty years ago in 1985 when I was almost a baby ! 🙂 . Pretty happy with that 🙂 .

Lastly … this post is getting a bit long … very happy to receive a ‘finalist’ recognition for a black and white version of my “Millionaire Castaway – David Glasheen” image in the ‘People’ category of Australia’s 2025 “Mono Awards” (bottom image below).

You may find more details of these on my website at … www.briancasseyphotographer.com/awards .

Images © Brian Cassey

IRIS, Head On, Prix de la Photographie, Analog Sparks & Mono … Awards and Exhibitions … … some unabashed self indulgent promotions and, well, recent updates regarding my work :-). Images © by Brian Cassey
IRIS, Head On, Prix de la Photographie, Analog Sparks & Mono ... Awards and Exhibitions ...
... some unabashed self indulgent promotions and, well, recent updates regarding my work :-).All images by Brian Cassey.
IRIS, Head On, Prix de la Photographie, Analog Sparks & Mono ... Awards and Exhibitions ...
... some unabashed self indulgent promotions and, well, recent updates regarding my work :-).All images by Brian Cassey.
IRIS, Head On, Prix de la Photographie, Analog Sparks & Mono ... Awards and Exhibitions ...
... some unabashed self indulgent promotions and, well, recent updates regarding my work :-).All images by Brian Cassey.
IRIS, Head On, Prix de la Photographie, Analog Sparks & Mono ... Awards and Exhibitions ...
... some unabashed self indulgent promotions and, well, recent updates regarding my work :-).All images by Brian Cassey.
IRIS, Head On, Prix de la Photographie, Analog Sparks & Mono ... Awards and Exhibitions ...
... some unabashed self indulgent promotions and, well, recent updates regarding my work :-).All images by Brian Cassey.

AAP “Portrait” Winners Feature in Class Mag …

Very nice !

AAP Magazine has published a beautifully produced magazine featuring the “Portrait” award winning works of 25 portrait photographers from around the planet … from the USA, Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Lithuania, China, Israel, Turkey, Germany, Poland, Italy … and two from Australia … myself … and friend Carole Mills Noronha whose work graces the magazine cover.

My winning image … “100 Years and 3 Weeks – Alf Neal OAM” was accompanied in the publication by two other of my portraits “Millionaire Castaway – David Glasheen” and “Neville Henry – Kowanyama”, under the title “Australians” over a two page spread (see top below).

The hard copy publication really feels more like a book than a magazine … stout card cover and ultra heavy weight paper throughout the 96 pages … beautiful simple layout showing the work at it’s finest … and no advertising whatsoever. A pure pleasure to be included … 

You may see all the AAP Portrait Awards collected works in the magazine here … https://www.all-about-photo.com/photo-articles/photo-article/1886/aap-magazine-48-portrait-photography-competition-winners-announced

AAP Mag also recently included my work “Generations – Aurukun” in their just published collection “Best Modern Photographers of September 2025” and it may be viewed here …  https://www.all-about-photo.com/photo-articles/photo-article/1948/best-modern-photographers-of-september-2025 .

Big Thanks to Sandrine at AAP Photo !

Below is an image of the AAP “Portrait” magazine showing my image spread and the mag title … and an Instagram screen grab of a AAP “Best Modern Photographers of September 2025” page featuring “Generations – Aurukun”. Images © Brian Cassey