More For The Awards Page …

… just about recovering from personal euphoria following my exhibition opening at the Court House Gallery and the Nikon Walkley Portrait Prize win (Thanks to all for your comments, likes etc etc !) … whilst in the meantime these items about some other very pleasant ‘recognitions’ and ‘mentions in dispatches’ have also arrived … for the record as follows …

Head On Portrait Prize Semi Finalist  … “The Yarrick Family of Kunhahaa” … screening at the Head On Portrait Prize exhibition now showing at Paddington Reservoir Gardens, Sydney.

Australian Photography Awards … Two Shortlisted in ‘Documentary’ … “The Yarrick Family of Kunhahaa” & “Tears For George Floyd – 8 Minutes & 46 Seconds”.  Winners will be announced over the five days between November 29th and December 3rd.

Fotonostrum International Portrait Award – ‘Jury’s Special Selection’ by Art Streiber – “Tears For George Floyd – 8 Minutes & 46 Seconds”, “Kate – Waiting For Her New Breasts II” & “The Yarrick Family Of Kunhanhaa”.

International Photography Awards (IPA) – Highly Commended X 2 – ‘People’ – “The Yarrick Family Of Kunhanhaa” – ‘Editorial’ – “Tears For George Floyd – 8 Minutes & 46 Seconds”.

Black & White Spider Awards 16th Edition – Finalist Nominee X 4 in ‘Silhouette’ – “Charlie & the Pandemic”, ‘Portrait’ – “Ramnami” & “The Skin I’m In II’, ‘Photojournalism’ – “Tears For George Floyd – 8 Minutes & 46 Seconds”.

Very pleased about that. The complete list of ‘Awards’ … (shameless self promotion) … can be found here … https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/awards/

Some will be aware that lots of these images (above) have been previously recognised in other awards and splashed around a lot lately … so … here’s two from the list (Black & White Spider Awards) that havn’t 🙂 … for  “Charlie & the Pandemic” it’s a ‘first’ … and for “Ramnami” it’s a fourth gong (but I like it 😉  … below)

Images © Brian Cassey

Black & White Spyder Awards -Nominee - Silhouette - "Charlie & the Pandemic" by Brian Cassey

Black & White Spyder Awards - Nominee - Portrait - "Ramnami" by Brian Cassey

Nikon Walkley Portrait Prize #3 … Yes !

… well, that was damn exciting and unexpected !

A few days ago received an email (proceeded by phone calls) with the great news that I’d once again won the ‘Nikon Walkley Portrait Prize’. Really stoked with that …

The Walkley’s usually announce the winners of the ‘Nikon Portrait Prize’, the ‘Nikon Photo of the Year Prize’ and the finalists of the other Nikon photographic categories during state capital evening ‘events’ … but Covid this year meant a much quieter disclosure via an 8am email.

Wasn’t expected anything … so missed the initial email and only learn’t that my pic “The Yarrick Family of Kunhanhaa” had been selected as the portrait prize winner when colleagues started ringing me !

The pic was made on Mornington Island (Kunhanhaa) in the Gulf of Carpentaria in far northern Australia … an indigenous community that is experiencing multiple ‘social issues’ mostly due to the tyranny of distance and … well …  being ‘forgotten’. Myself and ‘gun’ journalist Michael McKenna travelled to the island in December 2020 to document the story of massive overcrowding in the communities basic homes … and the image and story was published on page one of ‘The Australian’ (below).

Many thanks to Michael … and also to the ‘driven’ Mayor of Mornington, Kyle Yanner, who is single minded in solving the issues that have beset his community.

This portrait was also a part of my pic essay “Mornington Island – The Queenslanders Left behind” that recently won the ‘Photographic Essay’ category of ‘The Clarion Awards’ … Queensland’s media awards.

Also, huge congrats to brilliant Sydney Morning Herald colleague Kate Geraghty who scored the ‘Nikon Photo of the Year Prize’ with an evocative image of a Covid-19 patient that was also published as a page1.

Can’t forget the several of my colleagues that received the news that they are ‘Finalists’ in the remaining Nikon Walkley photographic categories who won’t now learn their fate till the big announcements at The Walkley Awards presentation night of nights in Tamworth in February 2022. I’ll be there ‘with bells on’ !

Below I’ve also posted images and links to my other two previous winning ‘Nikon Walkley Portrait Prize’ photographs in 2016 (here) and 2011 (here). Also just a couple of the links to all the Nikon Walkley winners and category finalists here and here.

STOP PRESS: Was interviewed in the days after the announcement by the Walkley Foundation’s Kate Burgess for an article in The Walkley Magazine. Kate’s work and my words may be found here … https://medium.com/the-walkley-magazine/spotlight-on-brian-cassey-1bfa58b91af8

Images © Brian Cassey

 

2021 Nikon Walkley Portrait Prize - Winner - "The Yarrick Family of Kunhanhaa' - by Brian Cassey

2021 Nikon Walkley Portrait Prize - Winner - "The Yarrick Family of Kunhanhaa' - by Brian Cassey for The Australian

'Abdullatif - Beaten Asylum Seeker' - Winner 2016 Nikon Walkley Portrait Prize - image by Brian Cassey

'Carol - Burne Survivor' - Winner 2011 'Nikon Walkley Portrait Prize' - image by Brian Cassey