| Brian Cassey Photographer Cairns Australia

Tokyo … and “Mother Africa” …

December 29, 2022

… nice timing and Merry Xmas …

Early in the hours of Christmas Eve an email dropped in with the nice news that my image “Mother Africa” had been selected again … this time for a “Bronze” award in the ’22 Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA) Fine Art category.

So pleased that this work has gained attention. To be accurate the making of this image (in a friends little basic shed studio) engendered a lot of emotion … and tears. My subject, the delightful currently Australia based African American Aurora Coulter, knew the ‘look’ that would make the photograph ‘work’ at depicting the historical … (and still current when you take into consideration the death of black man George Floyd and others at the hands of police officers etc) … treatment of her forebears in the US. Aurora dug into the depths of past memories and experiences for this image … and for that I’m so grateful. Her emotion made it ‘work’.

“Mother Africa” has been selected previously in other awards since it was made in January earlier this (nearly over) year … the International Portrait Photographer of the Year, The Pollux Awards, the International Photography Awards (IPA), Budapest International Foto Awards (BIFA), Moscow International Foto Awards (MIFA), the Percival Portrait Prize … and … another arguably more prestigious prize that I am not at liberty yet to tell anyone about 🙂

Once again Aurora … the very biggest Thanks … !

Image © Brian Cassey

Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA) 2022 - WINNER - Bronze Award - Fine Art - image by Brian Cassey

‘Gold’ X Two in Tokyo …

July 10, 2023December 24, 2021

Early Chrissy present from Tokyo …

It was only a week ago that I shared the news on here of two successes in the Budapest International Foto Awards (BIFA) … a Gold Award for “8 Minutes & 46 Seconds – Tears For George Floyd” in Editorial and a Silver Award for “The Yarrick Family Of Kunhanhaa” in People.

Well … seems Santa has come a day or two early as I just received the news that these two images have gone one better in the Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA) with both images winning ‘Gold’ !

So … rather than bashing out a similar post to the one a week ago I’ve copied it below … and updated it a bit 🙂

Here goes … 🙂

More news … this time from Hungary & Tokyo …

… these two images (below) have done it yet again! Announced this week … TWO Gold Awards in the 2021 Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA) for both “8 Minutes & 46 Seconds – Tears For George Floyd” (in Editoria) and “The Yarrick Family Of Kunhanhaa” (in People) … and a few days earlier … a Gold award in the 2021 Budapest International Foto Awards (BIFA) ‘Editorial’ for “8 Minutes & 46 Seconds – Tears For George Floyd”… and a Silver in ‘People’ for “The Yarrick Family of Kunhanhaa”.

Chuffed with that …

These two pics have been good to me … and have amassed a tidy number of other recognitions over the past year or so.

Images © Brian Cassey

Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA) - WINNER - GOLD Awards X 2 - Editorial - "8 Minutes & 46 Seconds - Tears For George Floyd" ... & ... People, Family - "The Yarrick Family of Kunhanhaa" - by Brian Cassey

‘Aurukun – Generations’ and Tokyo International (TIFA) …

December 31, 2019December 28, 2019

A nice little Xmas present … another little bit of recognition for my ‘Aurukun – Generations’ image … this time an ‘Honourable Mention’ in the Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA) in the People/Family category.

The pic … of Aurukun Wik elders Silas (90) and Rebecca Wolmby (83) with their twin great grand children Shalona and Keola … seems to have attracted a lot of attention with other selections over the months of 2019 in the UK based Portrait of Humanity, the Budapest International Foto Awards (BIFA), the Australian Photography Awards (APA) , the IRIS Portrait Awards in Perth and the Fremantle International Portrait Prize (FIPP).

Very sadly, Silas … a wonderful gentleman … passed away before his portrait gained such International recognition. I have a print ready to present to Rebecca on my next visit to Aurukun.

Image © Brian Cassey

Moscow, Moscow …

August 1, 2023May 25, 2019

MIFA - Moscow International Foto Awards - Winner Editorial Sport - 'Tomotaro on the Block' - image by Brian Cassey

… Thanks to a congratulatory Facebook post from AP photographer and mate Mark ‘Crusty’ Baker, I learnt that my image “Tomotaro on the Block” has been announced as Second Place (Silver) Winner in the ‘Editorial Sport’ category of the 2019 Moscow International Foto Awards (MIFA) … and will be shown at the Moscow Photocenter, Gogolevsky Boulevard, 8 Moscow (119019, г.Москва, Гоголевский бульвар, д.8) from the opening event on 19th June to the 24th June. (The original notification from ‘MIFA’ ended up in my ‘Junk’ folder … Thanks Crusty!)

Sadly … as much as I’d like to … I can’t make it to Moscow to see it and the other winners on show. (unless someone out there feels inclined to donate a return airfare 😉 ! … NB … I haven’t yet visited Moscow !)

As I bit of compensation, however, it turns out that I also received a ‘Highly Commended’ for another of my images … “Victims of Sorcery – Dorcas” in the ‘Editorial Conflict’ category … a combined result that almost mirrors that of a few months ago in the 2019 Tokyo International Foto Awards (see post ‘Two Up in TIFA’ here). Gratified that both these images have so far picked up several accolades between them.

The image of Tomotaro was made whilst covering the Pan Pacific Para Swim Games in Cairns (for the Canadian swim team) … whilst the image of Dorcas was made whilst working on a story on sorcery and witchcraft in Papua New Guinea for News Ltd’s News 360.

Below … the two awarded images from the “Moscow International Foto Awards” web site (click on each to take you to the full web site page) … Images © Brian Cassey

12th International Color Awards …

March 13, 2019March 10, 2019

Just a little pat on the back for the pic I made … ‘Tomotaro on the Block’ … (below) … of Japanese amputee swimmer Tomotaro Nakamura competing at the Pan Pacific Para Games in Cairns last year. The image received an ‘Honorary Mention’ in the ‘Sport’ category of the 12th edition of the ‘International Color Awards’, which was announced during a two and a half hour live online ‘Photoshow’ this morning. (and no … I didn’t watch it all.)

‘Tomotaro on the Block’ also recently won a ‘Silver’ award at the 2018 Tokyo International Foto Awards.

The ‘Sport’ category was won by UK photographer Ian Macnicol with a ‘not entirely unachieved before’ swimming image … ‘Honey Osrin’. His image also won Ian the overall title of ‘Photographer of the Year’.

The only other Aussie based photographer to get a mention in ‘Sport’ was adventure photographer Aidan Williams for his dramatic National Geographic published image made in Portugal … ‘Freedom’.

A second image … my pic from Papua New Guinea entitled “Victim of Sorcery – Dorcas” … was selected as a ‘Nominee’ (Finalist) in the ‘Photojournalism’ category of the Awards.

The Awards attracted over seven thousand entries from photographers based in seventy nine countries around the planet.

Below … ‘Tomotaro on the Block’ … image © Brian Cassey

'Tomotaro on the Block' - image by Brian Cassey - winner 'Honorary Mention' 2019 12th Edition 'International Color Awards' 'Sport' category - amputee swimmer Tomotaro Nakamura

Two Up in TIFA …

August 1, 2023January 9, 2019

Nice start to 2019 … just advised that TWO of my images have been selected as Winners in the Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA) 2018 announced today.

The two winners … both Silver Awards … are … ‘Tomotaro On The Block’ in the Editorial Sports category … and … ‘Victim of Sorcery – Dorcas’ in the Editorial Conflict category.

Great that the only other Australian Winner in the Editorial category was colleague and mate Jason O’Brien who also scored a Silver in the Sport category for his brilliant (and often awarded) image of the dive by French Tennis player Gael Monfils at the Australian Open. Congrats Jason … and nice to see our images side by side.

The Overall Winners in the Editorial category were … a disturbing image ‘Slaughterhouse’ by Spanish photographer Aitor Garmendia (First) … and another disturbing image because of the subject matter … ‘Donald and Hilary’ by US photographer Aude Guerrucci (Second).

There’s some great images from photographers from all around the Planet amongst this years TIFA Winners … and they are well worth the time to take a look here.

Winner - Silver Award - TIFA - Tokyo International Foto Awards - Editorial Sport - Japanese swimmer Tomotaro Nakamura - who had both arms amputated below the shoulder at birth - looks towards the setting sun as he prepares on the block for the start of his S5 50 metre freestyle final at the 2018 Para Pan Pacific Championships at the Tobruk Pool in Cairns Australia. Nakamura won Gold. He is one of Japans most accomplished paralympic swimmers. Image by Brian Cassey

Winner - Silver Award - TIFA - Tokyo International Foto Awards - Editorial Conflict - “Victims of Sorcery - Dorcas” - from the series “Victims of Sorcery” Dorcas Nunugi recovers from a ‘Sorcery' attack in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Dorcas, accused of sorcery following a family death, was attacked with an axe and her arm almost severed. She received other axe wounds to her thigh and head. She was then tortured with iron bars heated red hot in a fire, leaving massive scars on her torso, breasts and legs. Somehow she escaped alive -many victims don’t - their bodies dumped in the river or a convenient hole. Sorcery attacks have reached epidemic proportions in PNG. Image by Brian Cassey

TIFA Winners Announced …

April 12, 2018April 4, 2018

Seems only a hand full of Australian based photographers get a mention in the ‘Winners list’ of the ‘Tokyo International Foto Awards’ (TIFA) announced quietly today.

The good news is that colleagues and friends of mine … David Dare Parker and Adam Pretty are on that list … and that I also made it with two awards.

David Dare Parker’s great work on the Rohingya fleeing Myanmar into Bangladesh took out Second Prize (Silver) in Editorial General News … whilst Adam Pretty’s excellent and much lauded essay ‘Waterpolo Warriors’ won Gold in Editorial Sport.

My successes are … “The Skin I’m In – II” … Second Prize (Silver) in the Portrait category … and “Beaten Asylum Seeker” … Third Prize (Bronze) in the Editorial Political category. Both images have been in the spot light previously and just some of the earlier relevant links may be found at … https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/blog/awardsblog/2018/03/carol-does-it-again/, https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/blog/2016/10/october-great-month/, https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/blog/2017/04/4782/… and https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/blog/2016/12/sensational-walkleys/ .

The remainder of the TIFA Winners were spread right around the planet … with some interesting names popping up.

The Winners works will be hung or projected at the ICA Gallery, ICA3 Bldg E 2F, 3 Chome-4-6 Higashinihonbashi, Chūō, Tokyo from May 12th to 16th … with the opening event on May 13th from 3 to 7pm.

Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA) - Bronze Prize (Third) - Editorial Political - "Beaten Asylum Seeker" by Brian Cassey

Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA) - Silver Prize (Second) - Portrait - "The Skin I'm In - II" by Brian Cassey

Tokyo International … Result …

October 25, 2017January 8, 2017

A very welcome email arrived just a day or two before Christmas with the news that two of my works had been selected as winners in the inaugural edition of the Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA’s).

‘TIFA’ … a new event on the calendar … aims “to recognize, reward and expose talented photographers from around the world and introduce them to the creative community in Japan”.

My works selected were … Gold (First Place) in ‘Editorial Personality’ for the portrait ‘The Skin I’m In’ of burns survivor Carol Mayer … and Silver (First Place) in ‘Moving Image Essay’ for my short film ‘Eyes – the Soul of a Photograph’. Both works have featured previously in other awards.

They will be shown alongside other works during the winners exhibition at the Owada Gallery, Shibuya Cultural Center Owada, 23-21 Sakura-gaoka-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo … with the grand opening eve on February 25th. Sadly, I doubt I will be able to take up the invitation.

'The Skin I'm In' - portrait of Carol Mayer - Winner - 'Editorial - Personality', Tokyo International Foto Awards 2016 - image by Brian Cassey