March 18th, 2016
A hectic but rewarding three days this week … although the majority involved sitting on various aircraft.
On Wednesday I was kindly invited to luncheon in Brisbane by the Rural Press Club of Queensland … and very pleasant it was too. At the Tattersall’s Club function Rural Press announced the winners of the their annual media awards and I was most pleased to receive three awards for best ‘People’ photograph, best ‘Production’ photograph and … most pleasing … the overall ‘Excellence in Rural Photography Award’. The two winning images involved were ‘Beef Farmers’ in the ‘People’ and ‘Overall’ categories (made of a lovely elderly cattle farming couple at the Daintree) and ‘Banana Farmer’ (of a banana farmer at his tiny road side stall at the time when Panama disease race 4 was discovered locally). Both pics are posted below.
The afternoon was made even more special when my Courier Mail wordsmith colleague Michael Madigan took out the main journalism prize on offer … and we joined in much mutual back slapping and a long celebration.
Thursday … another plane … this time to Perth for the ‘CLIP (Contemporary Landscapes in Photography) Awards’ and exhibition opening at the beautiful Perth Centre for Photography.
Was wrapped with the selection of my work ‘Number 55’ as a finalist in an award that describes itself as ‘an internationally recognised photographic prize for new perspectives in natural and urban landscape photography’. My first real ‘Landscape’ photography recognition.
The gallery space was full of charm and character, the exhibited works indeed diverse and challenging … and I was pleased as punch to see ‘Number 55’ hanging amongst such an excellent collection of images. The home of photography in Perth also boasts a beautiful garden area where the bar was doing a roaring trade. Mike Gray took out the main prize with his image ‘Backyard Bag Study ‘, with Matt Abbott awarded the second prize for his great work ‘Dogs’. An extremely pleasant evening of great landscape photography at an excellent venue. If you are in Perth the exhibition runs till April 17th.
Below is a pic of part of the CLIP exhibition featuring my piece ‘Number 55’ on the wall – very nicely printed and mounted by Perth’s Fitzgerald Photo.
The one event I couldn’t quite squeeze into the schedule was the opening in Sydney on Wednesday eve of the ‘Head On Portrait Prize In Retrospect‘ exhibition as part of Art Month Sydney. The exhibition includes my previous portrait prize Finalist work ‘Disko Meri’.
Finally … this post is being strung together Friday on the long haul from Perth back to Cairns.
Images below © Brian Cassey – Rural Press Winners “Beef Farmers’ and ‘Banana Farmer’ … and CLIP Finalist ‘Number 55’ at the Perth Centre for Photography.
Rural Press Awards … there is a free lunch …
… but I won’t be there for it!
Was invited to a free lunch tomorrow at The Tattersall’s Club in Brisbane for the presentation of this year’s “Excellence in Rural Journalism Awards” … but sadly can’t take it up.
Seems my image of young indigenous girl “Mowisha from Jumbun” has been selected as the Winner of the ‘Excellence in Rural Photography – People’ award. The pic was made whilst I was working in the Jumbun aboriginal community in the Murray River valley near Tully, North Queensland for an SBS story “The Town at the End of the Road” by Mark White.
Jumbun residents, like little Mowisha, are predominantly from the Girrimay and Dyirbal Aboriginal clans. Her community of about a hundred are battling the controlling Indigenous Land Council to resurrect a farming industry. The 200ha Jumbun property is still listed on the ILC’s books as Jumbun Farm, despite nothing currently being grown there by its residents. That wasn’t always the case. Jumbun was founded in 1975 as a farming community under the Whitlam government, By the 1980s it was growing produce including bananas, pumpkins and zucchinis and exporting to Sydney and Melbourne. However, changes in farming practices, crop blight and cyclones meant the industry dried up.
Residents are desperate to revive the community’s fortunes but have received no support from the ILC to help them restart farming produce and running cattle. The community needs to produce to stave off the prospect of disappearing completely. For little Mowisha Jumbun is her home, history and possible employment … but without farming the future of her community is, indeed, bleak.
This was the first time that I’ve won anything whilst working for SBS … but hopefully not the last. Gratifyingly, this is the third year in a row that I’ve been named the ‘People’ category winner (here … are this year 2018, 2017, 2016). Don’t know if I can keep that one up …!
Below – the Winning “Mowisha from Jumbun’ image – © Brian Cassey