Champions of Douglas
Toneisha Phillips: Being hearing impaired only encouraged this bubbly young student to learn the piano and give everything a go.
The Cairns Regional Council Community Liason *DOUGLAS* (LOCAL!) Branch has a pretty good track record of listening to and supporting the local community. A couple of weeks ago, Liz Collyer – the Douglas Region Community Affairs Team Leader - contacted me about a great project she was developing. In recognition of Disability Awareness Week, they had decided to make a call for submissions for 12 “Champions of Douglas” – disabled people who are active community participants and inspirational role models. I was delighted to be involved. They asked me to take portraits of the 12 nominee’s for a small newspaper-insert magazine that is going to be released in Thursdays Port Douglas Gazette.
It was – of course – one of the most inspirational and humbling projects I’ve ever been involved in, and any complaints I had about my fortunate life were most certainly smacked on the head as I watched these amazing people dealing with everyday life in the most courageous and nonchalant of ways despite their various disabilities. In fact, not just dealing with – but going above and beyond the call….
Folks, I humbly present to you the 2009 Champions of Douglas.
Gail Cockburn. This former teacher relies on her good humour and huge heart to overcome the adversity of multiple sclerosis and be an active member of several community organisations.
Mick Rabig. A diving accident 30 years which left Mick as an incomplete tetraplegic only fuelled his fire to be independent and become the fundraiser of all fundraisers.
Leslie-Ann Ronaldson. A family connection and love for the area brought Leslie-Ann to the Douglas Region two years ago and she does not let spina bifida impact on her desire to give back to the community she now calls home.
Graham O’Donoghue. This fourth-generation Mossmanite has plenty to Dabble-Inn with an endless to inspire others with a disability as a business leader and great role model.
Ida Cannon. This talented athlete and dedicated student has become an integral part of the Douglas Community with her community spirit and caring personality.
Dylan WIlde. Daintree Village teenager Dylan WIlde is living proof that being confined to a wheelchair does not mean you cannot live your life to the fullest.
Kevin Wells. Known as the champion of the Nik-Nak Shed, Kevin has never let disability stop him from volunteering his time to help others.
Christine Jackson and Peter Elbers. A massive brain aneurism in July has only strengthened the love story between the Douglas Region’s “barefoot cellist” and partner Peter Elbers.
Sophie Stalker. A familiar sight riding around Port Douglas on her three-wheeler tricycle with her dog Wally, this tenacious young woman hasn’t let cerebral palsy slow her down.
Binna Swindley. Being born deaf hasn’t stopped Binna from pursuing his dream to open an art gallery and provide a platform for young indigenous people of Mossman to develop their own artistic abilities.
Tear Sheets
I recently did a shoot for Vogue Entertaining and Travel. They were doing a feature titled “A Taste of Queensland”, and asked me to photograph Chef James Long at Aqua Restaurant, at the Sea Temple Resort.
Japan’s The Hiragana Times did a story on Dr Sketchy’s Tokyo, using photo’s I had taken in the course of my work at the Dr Sketchy photog.
In Tokyo I did a lot of work for hair dressers – it is a BIG business in Tokyo, and in some districts (Harajuku, Ebisu and Shibuya) the concentration of Hair Salons can be anything from 3 to 12 in each city block. This glossy, Snip, features more underground and up-and-coming hair stylists. Mint hair salon calls itself a “manniaku hairmake” – a maniacal hair salon, they do a lot of extremely experimental styles there, and so they were featured in this issue of Snip.
The world is fascinated with Japanese culture. I took a series of pictures of a tea ceremony and sold them to Sabaru’s inhouse promo magazine, Drive, in Germany.
Asia Inc Mag commissioned me to write a story about Tokyo, for a feature they were doing titled “Asia’s Hip Cities”. It was not an easy job, but it paid quite well and I learned a lot about Tokyo’s more corporate Expat world in the process.
Canon celebrated their 20th year of EOS camera systems with a special magazine in Japan. In one of the cute quirks of life in Japan, I was asked to be photographed and interviewed for the “Today’s Users” feature.. It was horrid, I HATE being in front of the camera but it certainly led to some cool developments and projects in my photographic career.
Vogue Entertaining & Food
Some photo’s I took out at a local 5 star resort for Vogue Entertaining and Food a few weeks ago.
Mint/Snip: I'm getting published!
Good news! The pictures I took for my friends Yoko and Nana at Mint Salon for Snip Magazine will be published in a 2 page spread next month.
We did the shoot last weekend in a little office in Ebisu, and had a lot of collaborative fun setting up the lighting, backdrops and individual shoots.
Thanks very much to our fabulous models, Jakub and Yuko and to Misaki, Nana and Yoko for providing me with the opportunity to get some shots I’m really happy with.