Thursday 15 December 2011

Manhunt Madness

As a week had past after a specialist police officer was shot through the shoulder on the hunt for New South Wales' most wanted man, Malcolm Naden, without any sign of the search concluding soon I decided to make the more than 400km trip up to Nowendoc in the states North West. As I turned off the Thunderbolt Way in to town I was confronted with massive scale police command post where officers from across the state have called home for the past week. 

Officers from the State Protection Group, State Protection Support Group, Tactical Operations Unit and Dog Squad lead the front line search through dense bushland with over head support by way of two Police Airwing helicopters as well as a dedicated group of State Crime Command Homicide Detectives whom among others lead the operations from the command post. 

Whilst media access to the search area was impossible the command post still provide some interesting visuals, however due to operational requirements the identities of the officers involved in the search must be concealed and as such all faces are pixelated. 

NO ENTRY - As close as the general public can get to the operation.







A special thanks must go out to the Nowendoc community for their hospitality, especially the Nowendoc Tennis Club who handed over keys to their shed (And the tea/coffee contained within it) to the media to use as a temporary work station and shelter from the elements. Also thanks to Daniel Irwin for this picture of me editing on the billiards table inside the Tennis Club.




Monday 28 November 2011

Obama Down Under

Apologies for the long gap since my last blog post, however, more importantly I would like to thank you for your continued support with only a small drop in daily views through the time I was not updating.

It has been a very busy month with time spent photographing official state visits of US President Barack Obama and Danish Royals His Royal Highness Prince Frederik and Her Royal Highness Princess Mary. As the title suggests this post will be dedicated the incredibly brief state tour of US President Barack Obama to Canberra.

Also as I have long promised I will do a mid week post with images from my week long trip to Tasmania, my coverage of the Danish royal visit will be included in that post, a bit of a stretch I know, however HRH Princess Mary is originally from Tasmania!

Remember to click the images for a larger view.










Sunday 30 October 2011

What a week!

The past 10 days have been incredibly chaotic having spent time in 3 states; New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. At least I now have 6 more days in Tasmania to relax.

On the last full day of Occupy Sydney a protestor blows bubbles in Martin Place, Sydney.
Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II visits Federation Square in Melbourne.

Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II waves at the crowds as she departs Government House.

British Actor, Author, Playwright, Journalist, Comedian and
host of Television show QI speaks a function in Melbourne.

It's hard not to take an interest in landscapes in Tasmania,
certainly proving to be a good trip!

Saturday 22 October 2011

CSI: Sydney

For the past few days I have been back up in Sydney having recently finished university for the year. Whilst here I have found myself at a lot of news events, primarily crime scenes in the wee hours of the night. The following diptychs were taken at several different incidents, details of each can be found in the captions.

Click images for a larger view

A Probationary Constable maintains a road block as a Forensic Technician combs
 for evidence at the scene of a fatal shooting in Maroubra. 21/10/2011.
Police secure the scene for evidence after a "glassing" attack directly outside their
station opposite Sydney Town Hall. 22/10/2011
Police detain a youth on Reservoir Street in Surry Hills after being led on a pursuit which resulted
in their police vehicle loosing control and colliding with the front of a residence. 22/10/2011.



Saturday 15 October 2011

15/10/2011 - Occupy Melbourne

On the same mission as protestors in New York and many other cities around the world protestors today filled City Square in Melbourne and judging by their organisation they are committed to staying for at the very least for the rest of the weekend. While passing through the city today I stopped by for about 15 minutes in a break in the rain to make a few images.


Sunday 9 October 2011

Weekly Photo - 09/10/2011 "Dodge"

I know I have said I wouldn't post university work on here however as it is all I have photographed lately I have no other option. With my documentary project due in under 2 weeks I spent some more time with Dodge to photograph him driving his ute, I'm still not sure which I prefer so please let me know which you all prefer by email or in the comments.




Wednesday 28 September 2011

9/27/2011 - "Hats Off"

Continuing on the theme of construction workers I decided that today I would post the only photo of a construction worker that did not draw police attention as I took it. Originally I was photographing the words of reflection and remembrance that had been written on the American flag hanging on the World Trade Centre fence when a worker walked up with cigarette in hand to talk to a fellow worker on the inside of the fence at which point he reached up to remove his hard hat and... CLICK...

A construction worker removes his hard hat while on a smoke break.

Tuesday 27 September 2011

9/26/2011 - "Taking a Break"

Surprisingly this is another one of those photos that resulted in a brief encounter with the NYPD which whilst I understand they are on high security alert I found included one of the most bizarre exchanges of dialogue I have ever had with police.

After standing around for about 15 minutes waiting to have an uninterrupted view across the road I took a short burst of pictures and walked off until shortly later two undercover officers confront me to explain that the builders did not like being photographed and that I would have to give my details and potentially delete the images. After several moments chatting I enquired "But have I done anything wrong that really requires police action?" to which the officer replied "That is not the point sir..."

I sure hope I'm not the only confused one here as I believe that to be the only point to being stopped, questioned and asked to delete photos by the police! Anyhow enjoy my image of several construction workers who appear completely undisturbed by my presence...

Construction workers who don't seem to mind being photographed

Monday 26 September 2011

9/25/2011 - "Betty Ann Ong"

Had I realised I would have made this post on the 21st which on that day in 2001 members of the Chinese American community of San Francisco gathered in a small park along with Mayor Willie Brown who declared the day "Betty Ong Day"


Betty Ann Ong, a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11 which was flown in to the North Tower in the September 11th attacks, became the voice of Flight 11 with the audio recording of her phone call to the American Airlines operation centre replayed in many 9/11 documentaries as a first hand account of the hijackings.


"My name is Betty Ong. I'm No. 3 on Flight 11 ... I don't know, but I think we're getting hijacked"

A boy points to the name of Betty Ann Ong on the North Reflecting Pool
A set of American Airlines Air-Wings placed as a tribute by a visitor to the memorial
rests on the name of Betty Ann Ong on the North Reflecting Pool

Sunday 25 September 2011

Weekly Photo - 9/24/2011 "Dodge"

This weekend I did a bit more work on my university documentary project with a few quick portraits of Dodge, I am not a huge fan of black and white for photojournalism projects however doing a brief edit on these I somewhat liked it. Although I can say with near certainty that the final project will be presented in colour.



Friday 23 September 2011

9/23/2011 - "Star Spangled Biker"

On September 10th I made my way down to the World Trade Centre site purely to work my way around before the crowds and major security operation that would block up the streets even more in the next couple of days. On my way down several motorcycles bearing American flags roared downtown, by the time I got to the road side to photograph them all but one had passed.

9/22/2011 - "Selling Freedom Tower"

On this visit to New York I was glad to notice that since I was there in July the number of people attempting to rip off tourists with poorly printed picture books full of wrong information and images that I am sure must be stolen has not risen, I am also fairly confident these people have not sold anything in that time!

Better books fully of nicely printed, legally obtained images and correct information can be purchased at one of the several 9/11 Memorial mini museums and shops dotted around the World Trade Centre site so buy from the right place and support not only the photographers but also help sustain the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

Wednesday 21 September 2011

9/20/2011 - Untitled

I have very reluctantly used the dreaded "Untitled" which many of you may know I don't agree with the use of as a title of a picture, series or artwork. I have been wanting to post this image all week and have been racking my brain for a possible title without any success, therefore, in this case untitled is not a title, simply an acknowledgement of the fact that at this stage there is no title for this image.

Whilst walking down 10th Street in Manhattan to change bus on the 12th of September I stumbled upon a group of Spanish speaking labourers throwing bricks from the tray of a utility truck to the 2nd story of the building which was under renovation.

Monday 19 September 2011

9/19/2011 - "Flag of Honor"

In the days leading up to the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 almost 3,000 flags were been installed in Battery Park by the Flag of Honor Fund. The flag of honour is an American Flag with the stripes replaced with the names of the victims of the 9/11/01 attacks on New York and Washington as well as those aboard Flight 93 which crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania listed in the 13 blue and red lines.





Sunday 18 September 2011

Weekly Photo - 9/18/2011 "Battle of Britain"

Whilst I continue my daily updates through to the end of September with photos from my week in New York I will keep my Sunday updates as usual local to where I am with a photo taken that week. This weeks photo comes from the commemorations of the 71st anniversary of the Battle of Britain held at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia. The Royal Australian Air Force Roulettes performed a fly over at 3:30pm after the ceremonies had concluded.

9/17/2011 - "Temporary Passage"

Whilst the construction works continue around the 9/11 Memorial a temporary entry passage has been set up which directs visitors through security and around to the single entry point on the south western side of the memorial site, once construction is complete the site will be freely accessible from all directions. This photo was made immediately after the security check point mid way down this temporary path, it is the first point that One World Trade Centre can be seen top to bottom through the fence.

Friday 16 September 2011

9/16/2011 - "Building Freedom Tower"

Despite the fact that One World Trade Centre is no longer officially being called Freedom Tower the name seems to have stuck, however, we clearly aren't free, simply taking 4 photos from the memorial site through the fence on to the construction zone resulting in attention from the NYPD who seemed not to like that I was taking photos of what they claimed was not "very interesting" nothing came of our interactions however it was surprising that I was hassled in the first place given the fact the site is so visible from the entire memorial site.

Remember to click the image for a larger view.

A construction worker takes a break from building 1WTC to view
the memorial pools from the other side of the fence.

Thursday 15 September 2011

9/15/2011 - "Amazing Grace"

As a lot of my work from the past two days is still sitting on my memory cards and I am at JFK International Airport on my way back to Australia I will jump back a few days with this image taken on the 11th. The man in the picture was sitting outside St Paul's Chapel just near the World Trade Centre playing the tune too Amazing Grace, he has since been playing near the visitor entry to the memorial, despite not being the best musician he has drawn quiet a crowd each time I have walked past. 


Wednesday 14 September 2011

9/14/2011 - "Enlightened Zen Master Jinje"

Today whilst at the 9/11 Memorial I heard chanting coming from towards to South Pool, as I made my way over I was informed that the Enlightened Zen Master Jinje, the 79th Patriarch in the Korean lineage of Buddha, along with several other Korean monks paying their respects at the memorial.

Enlightened Zen Master Jinje at the South Reflecting Pool.

Tuesday 13 September 2011

9/13/2011 - "Remember"

After a decent rest I spent this afternoon back down at the 9/11 Memorial Site for several hours as I waited from the latest available time slot of 4:30PM until dusk around 7:30PM, the sound of the flowing water in the reflecting pools creates a space void of the normal sounds of the city, it truly is mesmerising! 

Whilst in New York I have been doing plenty of other photography which I am considering stretching out beyond my return with daily blog posts until the end of the month, if not I will post a link to a gallery of images when I return home.

Click images for a larger view



Monday 12 September 2011

9/12/2011 (Part B) - "Never Forget"

Today was my first opportunity to visit the newly opened World Trade Centre memorial in New York, a moment I was very much looking forward to however was highly concerned it would become the next destination for tourists to have their picture taken in front of. Thankfully when I arrived at 5PM for one of my reserved time slots I found the vast majority of visitors did not even carry a camera, they simply wanted to attend and pay their respects to friends, family, colleagues and even complete strangers who died in New York, Shanksville and Washington DC 9/11/01 as well as the victims of the 26/2/1993 attacks on the World Trade Towers. I look forward to returning over the next few days to experience some more time on the memorial site and hopefully come away with some more images.

Click images for a larger view




9/12/2011 (Part A) - "Lucky Tip-Off"

When I arrived at the Rockefeller Centre at 8am I did not expect to have my photo running in online editions of several major Australian news networks. I was the first person to reach the Top of The Rock this morning, followed shortly after by a Reuters photographer from England who suggested I drop past Times Square a couple of hour later to photograph the woman's champion Samantha Stosur.


A guard enjoys the view before swarms of tourists flood the Rockefeller Centre observation deck.
Stosur poses for photos in Times Square.
WA Today
Sydney Morning Herald

3AW 693AM News Talk (Radio)