Images of Dead People … ‘Lenin’ and ‘Charlie Chaplin’ …
On two occasions over the last couple of weeks have had the pleasure to document ‘dead people’ – two infamous characters from the last century – one a political figure who changed the World … the other a silent film actor who forever changed the film industry.
Of course … I didn’t dig ’em up. Both were highly convincing re-creations by talented Cairns artists.
‘Lenin’ (Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov) survived assassination attempts before dying of a brain haemorrhage in January 1924 (a little before my time 😉).
However, a portrayal of the Marxist and father of the Soviet Union and the Soviet Communist Party by vastly experienced Cairns actor Peter Merrill brought him back from the grave. Peter plays the ’Lenin’ lead in ‘Petrograd Express’ … a new play by Ken Cotterill which opens in Cairns at the Rondo Theatre this month. The title ‘Petrograd Express’ refers to Lenin’s 1917 train journey from exile in Switzerland, across hostile Germany, back to Russia to seize power from the government and declare a ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’. The train journey by the architect of the Bolshevik Revolution set in motion events that forever changed Russia and modern history.
I made this portrait (top) of Lenin/Peter for the local Cairns Post newspaper.
A week later I found myself portraying ‘Charlie Chaplin’ … brought back to life by amazin’ Kuranda performer (and friend) Danny Simony.
Englishman Chaplin … a comic actor, filmmaker and composer during the silent film era … became a World wide icon through his screen persona. A perfectionist … Chaplin wrote, directed, produced, edited, starred in, and composed the music for most of his many films.
My portrait of Charlie/Danny (bottom) was made for the now regular Sunday Mail newspaper feature ‘Larrikins of Queensland’. Danny … also a perfectionist and an exceptional talent at comedy, mime, pick pocketing and more … told the story of how he travelled from his birth place of Paris to Australia via India and Nepal decades ago and then forged a career in Cairns as the cities favourite entertainer and ‘Queensland Larrikin’.
Images © Brian Cassey
Veronica … Mornington Island … Where Home Brew Kills …
Thrilled, but also saddened to once again travel to remote Mornington Island (Kunhanhaa) in the tropical Gulf of Carpentaria in northern Australia … the third visit in the past year.
Mornington is a delightful destination populated by delightful people … but the community are grappling with many social ills mainly caused by the tyranny of distance and basically, being ‘forgotten’.
New young Kunhanhaa Mayor Kyle Yanner is determined to raise awareness about the many issues that have beset his community … and has managed to get the attention of the Queensland Government near two thousand kilometres distant in Brisbane.
I again made many images during last weeks visit to the island … but this pic of five year old Veronica Barnes is the one I’m most fond of. I was concentrating on portraying a 16 year old who was a ‘home brew’ imbiber when I glanced Veronica and her tiny puppy. A couple of frames later and I had what I think is a ‘special’ image (sorta ‘Bill Henson style’ 😉 ). (NB … her father gave permission for the pic to be seen.)
Veronica’s community is experiencing the ravages of a wide spread ‘home brew’ alcohol epidemic … and this was the main thrust of our story. She is growing up in a community where many of her extended family members and friends are suffering the consequences of alcohol induced diabetes and untimely death. The community … ‘dry’ for twenty years … has seen a rapid rise of dangerous home brewed alcohols … and children as young as ten years old have been imbibing and adversely effected. Diabetes cases have skyrocketed and the cemetery is littered with the graves of those who have succumbed to alcohol related issues in their teens, twenties and thirties.
Mayor Yanner and the council are reaching out for urgent assistance to stem the scourge and are proposing the introduction of regulated mainstream mid strength alcohol products to the island, controlled at a Tavern. Queensland Minister for the Environment Meaghan Scanlon MP made the trek to Mornington last week to listen first hand to Yanner’s plans.
Veronica’s image was just one of the many made whilst covering the story (by journalist Domanii Cameron) in The Courier and Sunday Mail newspapers … below is a also page grab of the spread as published in Saturdays ‘Weekend’ edition.
My recent previous visits to Mornington documented severe overcrowding in the community’s housing (The Australian, December 2020) … and numerous issues in ‘The Queenslanders Left Behind’ (The Sunday Mail, May 2021)
Images ©Brian Cassey – publication © Courier Mail