‘Kate’ … The Good News Continues …
The best news is … Kate … who has been waiting over eight years for breast reconstruction following a double mastectomy … is now well on the way to having her ‘assets’ back.
Following the publication of my pic (below) on page 1 of the Sunday Mail with a story about insane Queensland hospital waiting lists, Kate Yeoman and dozens of other Queensland women had their long awaited surgeries ‘expedited’ at the direction of State Premier Annastacia Pałaszczuk and Health Minister Dr Steven Miles. Covid-19 caused a little hiccup and further delays … but Kate has now had several of her set of reconstructive breast surgeries.
Recently I had the pleasure of making some more images of a fit and fabulous Kate which will feature with an update to her story in this weekends The Sunday Mail (weekend of 7th-8th November).
(Stop Press -1 ! Below is a grab of the double page Sunday Mail spread featuring Kate’s story and my images published the weekend of the 7th-8th November.)
The other piece of ‘Kate’ news is that my image “Kate – Waiting For Her New Breasts” has been awarded a further accolade to add to a growing list. The pic has just been awarded an ‘Honorable Mention’ in the ‘Editorial – Contemporary Issues’ category of the 2020 ‘International Photography Awards’ (IPA). Thanks IPA ! (Image below)
Previously the work has also been recognised in … the 2020 ‘Moscow International Foto Awards’ (MIFA – Honorable Mention – Portrait) … the 2020 ‘Clarion Awards’ (Finalist – Best News Photograph) … and the 2020 ‘Percival Photographic Portrait Prize’ (Finalist).
(Stop Press -2 ! Just learnt the news the the image “Kate – Waiting For Her New Breasts” has managed another ‘gong’. It has been selected as an ‘Honorable Mention’ in the 2020 International “Black & White Spider Awards” in the ‘Portrait’ category.)
Image © Brian Cassey
A Tiny Dot In The Pacific Ocean …
50 year old Sydney masseuse Michelle Lee gently shipped her oars in Port Douglas Wednesday April 5th 2023 to become the first woman to row solo across the Pacific Ocean … an epic feat that spanned 240 days.
Michelle left Ensenada Mexico in her row boat ‘The Australian Maid’ on August 8th 2022 with approximately 14000 kms ahead of her, much of it dodging numerous Cyclones (Hurricanes) and the unexpected. It was not only the weather that impacted her progress … she was shadowed by large sharks across the ocean (one decided to visit Michelle by jumping into the boat) … and currents and tides slowed her last run in to the Australian coast changing landfall from Cairns to Port Douglas.
She had previously defeated the lesser shorter challenge of rowing across the Atlantic in 68 days … a feat that led to her being named the 2019 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year.
I was contacted by the event media consultant Liz Inglis to help cover Michelle’s Australian arrival … and contacted AAP who gladly snapped up the opportunity. Below are just a tiny portion … five … of the large set of photographs I made of her arrival. More can be found on my Instagram feed (10 images) at https://www.instagram.com/p/CqtmLTBB7U3/ … and on my Facebook page (12 images) at … https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10160849699665984&set=pcb.10160849701405984.
My full set of 43 images may be found on the AAP website at … https://photos.aap.com.au/search/Michelle%20Lee%20port%20douglas
Amongst many other media, The Guardian run a nice story on Michelle’s journey and arrival accompanied by some of my pics here … https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/apr/05/bit-of-a-battle-michelle-lee-reaches-queensland-after-rowing-out-of-mexico-240-days-ago .
The images of Michelle’s landing in Aus have been syndicated widely around the planet over the last few days.
Images © AAP/Brian Cassey @australianassociatedpress