Martin Place Street Kitchen Reboot

Photos from last Sunday’s street kitchen at Martin Place, which has been revived after the passing of Lanz Priestly late last year. Over 200 hot meals were served to homeless people and ‘streeties’. The kitchen will currently run monthly.

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Rally: Stop gas-fired dispossession! Stand with Gomeroi against Santos and Morrison

A small but determined crowd braved pouring rain today to protest outside the Federal Court in the city, Gadigal, against Santos’ gas fields currently being developed across the Pilliga, on Gomeroi country in north western NSW.

The rally was organised by Gomeroi people and Workers for Climate Action.

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Ray Munro - Aboriginal Tent Embassy's 50th Anniversary

Ray Munro holds up a copy of the original flag first flown at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, in Canberra, Ngunnawal-Ngambri country.

This week, the Australian Commonwealth Government bought out the rights to Harold Thomas’ more well known version of the Aboriginal flag - a move which has been criticised by some First Nations people as a State appropriation of a symbol that has been used to champion Aboriginal rights over many years. There has also been some confusion about what this move actually means in terms of ownership, copyright and licensing.

The Aboriginal Tent Embassy celebrated its 50th Anniversary yesterday.

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Ngambaa Dhalaay and Vic Simms at Blak Markets

Photographs of the last Blak Markets for the year, 2 weeks ago, on the 5th of December, featuring dance and cultural group Ngambaa Dhalaay, and veteran rock ‘n roll crooner, Vic Simms.

Shot on a Nikon F2AS, Kodak Tri-X, black and white 35mm film.

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Brolga Dance Academy at the 50th Anniverstary of the Aboriginal Medical Service

Photographs of the Brolga Dance Academy performing at a community day in Redfern Park, marking the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Aboriginal Medical Service (AMS).

The AMS revolutionised the delivery of health care services to Aboriginal communities by putting it under community control. It was a model that was successfully implemented by other Aboriginal organisations and represented a step towards self-determination. The AMS was originally established as the Redfern Aboriginal Medical Service in 1971 by Gordon Briscoe, Shirley (Mum Shirl) Smith, Lyn Craigie, Norma Williams, Sol Bellear, Roberta Sykes and other community activists during a time of political renaissance across Aboriginal communities in the 1970s, especially in Redfern.

Today, these events were celebrated with dance, song and the gathering of the community. Ray Davidson Snr. performed the Welcome to Country.

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Warrior Girl

Dorothy Peni Weatherall at Blak Markets, Bare Island, La Perouse, Bidjigal country.

Shot on a Nikon F2AS with Kodak TMAX 3200 black and white film.

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Clouds Over Sydney

Clouds descend on to the Sydney skyline during an unusually wet summer.

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Milan Dhiiyaan at Blak Markets

The Milan Dhiiyaan cultural dance group, performs at Blak Markets, Bare Island, Bidjigal land.

Shot on a Nikon F2AS, Kodak, E100, colour reversal, 35mm film.

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Steve at Kings Cross

Steve at the iconic Coke sign at Kings Cross.

Steve has lived on the streets for the last 10 years after his father died and after a bust up with his brother. He often comes to Kings Cross, where he finds solace in his family of ‘streeties’.

I photographed Steve just after he bought this hat from the $2 shop across the road and as I saw him playfully directing traffic at the Cross.

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Lance Priestly Memorial

Today, Lance Priestly was remembered at Martin Place for his tireless work for the homeless and underprivileged. Around 150 people braved the relentless rain and wind to pay tribute to the tenacious human rights and environmental campaigner, who passed away earlier this month.

Vale Lance.

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Vale Myra Demitriou - The Stay at Home Activist

Some activists take to the streets, others stay at home.

Myra Demitriou passed away last month at the age of 94.

Myra was the last resident to be evicted from the Sirius building in Millers Point, the iconic harbour-side public housing estate that is making way for luxury apartments. She was 91 years old at the time, and blind. For Myra, her home at Sirius was far more than the ‘million-dollar’ views it provided.

Myra became one of the leading voices against the redevelopment of Millers Point during a long campaign that saw local residents hold out against the State Government and land developers, from 2014 to 2018. She steadfastly refused to be moved from the home that she wanted to see out her last years in - staying at home was a kind of activism that galvanised the community.

Ultimately, big power, money and vested interests won out, but the efforts of Myra Demitriou and the other residents of Millers Point serve as an example of the importance of community and solidarity.

These photos were taken in 2014 and are part of a series of portraits of Millers Point residents of that time.

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Remembrance Day: Mark Mason

The family and supporters of Gomeroi man, Mark Mason Snr., gathered at NSW Parliament today to mark the 11th anniversary of his death at the hands of police in 2010, when he was cornered, tasered and shot in Collerenebri in north-western NSW.

Mr Mason’s daughter, Darlene, and other family members and supporters spoke out against Aboriginal deaths in custody and demanded justice.

Two more Aboriginal men were killed in custody just this week, as the death toll rapidly nears 500 since the Report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody was handed down in 1991.

The protestors at today’s rally marched down Macquarie Street to nearby Hyde Park.

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COP26 Global Day of Action For Climate Change - Sydney, Gadigal

Images from yesterday’s COP26 Global Day of Action for Climate Change in Sydney, Gadigal, part of a world wide protest movement aimed at pressuring governments to find an immediate pathway to reduce reliance on fossil fuels in an attempt to reach at least net zero emissions by 2050.

Around 1,000 people turned up to Hyde Park North and marched to Circular Quay. Much focus was on how climate change affects Aboriginal people and Pacific Islanders in particular.

So far, COP26, held in Glasgow, has failed to come up with any substantive and effective agreement on how to reach net zero. Speakers at yesterday’s rally in Sydney emphasised that real change had to come from the public, as governments and corporations around the world had proved time and again that they could not provide leadership on this crucial issue.

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Barbara McGrady

Barbara McGrady, Glebe, 2019.

Shot on a Nikon F2AS, Kodak, Tri-X, black and white 35mm film.

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COP26 - Rebellion of One, Sydney, Gadigal

Images from today’s COP 26 ‘Rebellion of One’ action in Sydney, Gadigal, by Extinction Rebellion (XR).

As decisions on climate change are about to be made at the United Nations’ COP 26 conference in Glasgow, climate activists are gearing up around the globe to demand world leaders take substantive action on reducing carbon emissions. COP26 runs from the 31st of October to the 12th of November and is considered a crucial opportunity to abate the climate crisis.

Decades of increasing carbon emissions are responsible for higher global temperatures, more severe droughts, the widespread loss of natural habitat and a threat to humanity and many other species. Australia, one of the world’s largest fossil fuel providers and one of the highest per capita emitters, is being seen as one of the chief reprobates at the COP26, with a history of resisting action on climate change.

Today’s XR ‘Rebellion of One’ action is part of a wider campaign that sees a single activist create a disruption in the hope it might inspire further action by others. It stands in contrast to the more traditional mass rally. More ‘Rebellion of One’ actions are expected around the world in the lead up to COP26. Organiser of the action, Larissa Payne, scaled a 5 metre ladder and locked on, just outside the Sydney Opera House and opposite the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Police arrived soon after. Ms Payne was eventually arrested and taken into custody.

A large climate protest is expected to take place in Sydney, Gadigal this Saturday, the 6th of November.

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Justice For JC - Deaths In Custody Rally

Around 100 people turned up outside the Supreme Court in Sydney to protest against the not guilty finding of murder charges against a West Australian police officer who shot and killed Yamatji Wajarri woman, known as ‘JC’, in Geraldton in 2019. The rally was one of many simultaneously held around the country.

 

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Unsettled - The Australian Museum

Photographs from some months ago of the opening events of ‘Unsettled’, a major landmark exhibition on First Nations art and culture at the Australian Museum.

It's one of the most important exhibitions ever held at the museum. The exhibition has just re-opened after months of lockdown.

Go see it - it's a must. And yes, I am lucky enough to have a (small) image in the exhibition!

Shot on Tri-X 35mm film with a Leica M6 TTL.

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The Commuter

Portrait of a commuter.

Streets, trains, buses, offices and shops are once again filling, as the city emerges from lockdown and returns to pre-COVID, 9-to-5 life.

Shot on Tri-X 35mm film with a Leica M6 TTL.

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Afternoon Skies Over Clovelly

Strange rainbow effects in the distant sky, reflections off pooled water, refracted sunset light, seagulls and evening clouds over Clovelly this afternoon.

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