Save TJ Hickey Park Rally

A rally to save TJ Hickey Park and the memory of the circumstances of TJ Hickey's death. A delegation met with the state minister to demand that the commemorative park not be destroyed as part of the development of Redfern Waterloo. The result of the meeting saw the minister pledge to visit the park with family and community to discuss how the issue might move forward. A small but important success for the family and its supporters in a long struggle for justice.

The Power of Mother Nature - Giant Waves off the East Coast

Some shots of the enormous waves that pounded the shoreline off Sydney, generated by a 1500km low pressure system that moved down the east coast of Australia. These shots were taken around Coogee.

King Tide and Low Pressure System at Coogee

On the way home for a nice early night but couldn't resist getting the camera out when I hit Coogee.
A combination of a massive low pressure system off the east coast of Australia and a king tide produced gigantic and devastating waves.
For anyone who knows Coogee, you know how massive these seas are. For those who don't, there's a beach under that water somewhere...
Locals say it's the biggest they've seen. The broadway is all but destroyed.

Sorry Day - Bring The Children Home, GMAR Rally

Rally to the offices of Family and Community Services demanding the cessation of the long-standing and continuing practice of removing Aboriginal children from their families.  Grandmothers Against Removal.

Dancing at Koojay

Redfern Aboriginal Tent Embassy Exhibition - Grassroots Activism In Action

Photographs of some of the photographers (and curator) meeting for the upcoming exhibition, 'Redfern Aboriginal Tent Embassy - Grassroots Activism In Action'. 
Artists: Peter Crowfoot | Jarek Gasiorek | John Janson–Moore | Glenn Lockitch | Barbara McGrady | Lorna Munro | Curated by Sandy Edwards
Venue: 107 Projects, 107 Redfern Street, Redfern.
Opening:  NEXT Thursday the 26th of May, 6pm-8pm and runs until the 5th of June.
More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/704561336353303/?active_tab=highlights

Borroloola Clan Demonstrates at Glencore Offices

A group of traditional land owners from Borroloola in the Northern Territory demonstrates outside the Sydney offices of multinational company, Glencore, in protest of the polluting of the McArthur River from one of the world’s biggest zinc, lead and silver mines. 90% of fish stocks have reportedly been found with dangerously high levels of lead, and so these protesters brought with them evidence - poisoned fish all the way from Borroloola.
More info found at https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/may/19/glencore-zinc-mine-must-be-shut-down-say-traditional-owners?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

ARTIVISM - Aboriginal Tent Embassy at Circular Quay

Justice for the Bowarville Three

Frontiers Wars, Peace Vigil, Black Diggers.

Here are a few more photos from the ANZAC Day weekend in Canberra, focusing on the Frontiers Wars - these of a peace vigil and lantern parade moving from the top of Mount Ainslie, past a plaque commemorating Aboriginal diggers, and then down to the Australian War Memorial.

Finalist - Head On and Percival Portrait Prizes

Here is my image, 'Sam and Robbie' that has been selected as a finalist for both the Head On and Percival Photographic Portrait Prizes. Tonight, the winner of Head On was announced, and although this image did not win, it has been a real thrill to have been selected as a finalist. It was truly humbling to have seen my photograph exhibited on the wall along side such fine work in the other finalists. The exhibition continues at the Museum of Sydney. Try to catch it if you are in town.
The winner of the Percival Photographic Portrait Prize will be announced on May the 13th.
Sam and Robbie
Born spastic cerebral palsy quadriplegic Robbie (right) has been denied a surgical procedure that would see the complete amputation of both his legs, in order to free him of worsening arthritis and bone spurs in his hips, which has resulted in ongoing and agonizing pain. 
Sam (left) has been Robbie’s sole carer for twenty-two years, despite his own degenerative spinal disease. Sam, born transsexed, has steadfastly campaigned for Robbie's right to freedom from a lifetime of pain through this radical surgery, otherwise offered to non-cerebral palsied individuals.
Robbie and Sam live together on the outskirts of Sydney where this photograph was taken. 
I met Sam and Robbie at the Redfern Aboriginal Tent Embassy where I was developing another photographic project and thought their story was an important one to tell. I travelled out to Penrith by train one day with a bag of photographic gear and spent a couple of hours shooting with them in their house. Whilst setting up for this portrait, I felt that I had a solid enough relationship with them both - and the temerity - to ask if Robbie minded being photographed in his ‘birthday suit’ (he had already joked about this earlier in the day). Without a second thought, he agreed. I think this decision lays bare both Sam and Robbie’s frank embrace of and struggle with their bodies - a kind of bald acknowledgement that asks the viewer to contemplate the complex nature of the human condition.

Frontiers Wars Commemoration ANZAC Day, Canberra

A documentation of the march to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra on the 25th of April 2016 to commemorate the Frontiers Wars which commenced when then Lieutenant Cook's party shot a Gweagle man on a beach in what is now commonly known as Kurnell, Botany Bay, Sydney. The event marked the beginning of an ongoing series of wars that devastated Aboriginal Tribes across Australia.

On this day, a smoking ceremony at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy kicked the day off before the rally moved to ANZAC Parade, where a long banner was unfurled, listing just some of the battles and massacres perpetrated by European invaders. The march then proceeded towards the Australian War Memorial where, for the first time ever, a wreath was allowed to be laid by representatives of the march.

The wars remain unresolved.

*click through images for full screen view

Aboriginal Deaths In Custody Rally

It's been 25 years since the tabling in Federal Parliament of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths In Custody, and there are still repeated cases of Aboriginal deaths in custody, where around one third of all people incarcerated in Australia are Aboriginal. One of the most recent cases is that of Ms Dhu, who died while in custody in Western Australia under appalling circumstances. This is just one case of many that have occurred over many years.
This rally was held outside the Human Rights Commission in Sydney.

Stop The Despoiling of Aboriginal Artifacts, Heritage and History Rally

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Some pictures of the rally against the South East light rail line in Randwick, Sydney, which will not only see the destruction of many magnificent 150 plus-year old trees, but will also threaten to despoil thousands of Aboriginal artifacts recently found at the construction site. Over 21,000 artifacts have been found to date and there is conjecture that many thousands more lay not far beneath the surface and in the surrounding area.
Experts say that these finds are some of the most important pre-invasion artifacts found in decades and that they hint at a possible massacre site which occurred shortly after European arrival.
There is no sign that the construction works are being halted by the NSW government which means that this site is under imminent danger of being lost forever to the force of 'progress', destroying irreplaceable Aboriginal heritage and history, bypassing archeological excavation processes and ignoring proper cultural protocols.

Upcoming Exhibition

Here are some snaps of the fabulous artists I'll be exhibiting with in a group show in May as part of the Head On photography festival. 
The theme of the show will be the life of the Redfern Aboriginal Tent Embassy which for 15 months fought for low cost housing for Aboriginal people. These images show the artists sorting through the many thousands of images taken in this time.
The other exhibiting artists are Glenn Lockitch, Barbara McGrady, Peter Crowfoot and Jarek Gasiorek. The show is being curated by Sandy Edwards and will be held at 107 Projects in Redfern. Stay tuned for more details.

Fiji Disaster Fundraiser

Last night over 300 people gathered at Merrylands RSL for a fundraiser to support those who were devastated by Cyclone Winston in Fiji. The north of the country and the outlying islands were particularly hard hit.
70% of the sugar cane crop - which brings much income to poorer villages - was lost in the cyclone. It is estimated that it will take at least another year for some sense of normalcy to return to the affected parts of this beautiful country. And now that the news cycle has moved on and with the presence of aid agencies winding down, the next few months will be telling.
Calls are being made for financial support and particularly for Australians to chose Fiji as a choice of holiday destination. Tourism, despite all its pitfalls, is an important source of income for Fiji.
Cyclone Winston was the second strongest cyclone ever to be recorded and there are fears that with the global climate becoming more volatile, storms of similar and greater intensity will become more common. Fiji is particularly vulnerable to climate change and this recent disaster is a reminder of how the Pacific Islands - Australia's direct neighbors - will be some of the first and worst affected.
Here, two members of the fabulous group 'Rako Pasefika' perform at last night's fundraiser.

East Swanson Dock, 1998

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Looking through some old archives and found these, taken at East Swanson Dock, Melbourne, 1998.
I thought I would post these today, on the day that the NSW government passes new anti-protest laws, which have earned the ire of civil libertarians, environmentalists, Aboriginal rights activists and those concerned about the extension of police, government and corporate powers. These laws are ostensibly aimed at preventing protests against CSG and other mining but also target much broader civil, community and industrial activity. Aboriginal communities have stated that the laws will specifically prevent them from accessing their ancestral lands. The laws also coincide with controversial 457 visas recently being granted to foreign labour crewing coastal shipping routes, displacing local workers.
1998 represents the year of one of the most significant industrial disputes in Australia - perhaps the last major workforce dispute in this country - when during the Howard years, waterside workers went on strike around the country, the largest and most prolonged being the picket at the Patrick operated East Swanson Dock in Melbourne. Patrick stevedores had secretly trained then current and ex-military personnel in Dubai to break the strike. In April 1998, large contingents of police were sent to the dock. In response, thousands of unionists descended on the waterfront. The dispute and picket lasted months, eventually resulting in the maintenance of union presence on the docks, but also signaling a major decline of union power in Australia.
Here, some light-hearted moments in between the high tension as workers - young and old, men and women - practice their picketing technique in expectation of a police crackdown.
Scratchy black and white 35mm negs, shot on an Olympus OM-2n.
 

Home Ground Advantage Lost

Digging through some old files and found this - taken at the last AFL game at Collingwood's traditional home ground, Victoria Park, Saturday the 28th of August, 1999.
It signified the end of an era, when Australian Rules Football moved from a tribalized, suburban and working class setting to becoming a multi-million dollar, national and corporatized phenomenon.
Pictured here, two local supporters give a couple of variations of the 'Collingwood salute' to the visiting team.
Shot on black and white 35mm Tri-X neg.

 

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Sydney LGBTQI Mardi Gras 2016 (First Nations)

The annual LGBQTI Sydney Mardi Gras kicked off in 2016 with a smoking ceremony in Hyde Park. These photos follow the event from there to the First Nations float which travelled down Oxford Street to Taylor Square in front of around 300,000 spectators. There was a record 178 floats this year.
The First Nations float then proceeded to Klub Koori for the after party, which was MC'd by Nana Miss Koori and featuring the amazing Destiny Haz Arrived, as well as a host of other performers, including Black Pearl, Lasey Duncan and Nova Gina.
There are approximately 150 photos documenting the night.
A big special thanks to the legendary Barbara McGrady who opened doors and chaperoned me around during the event.
 
*For full frame slide show view, click on the thumbnails below.

Mardis Gras 2016 - First Nations Float

Some memories of the First Nations Float at the 2016 Sydney Mardis Gras.