My Alice Springs 2018 Exhibition: Dec 12th 2018

We handed out 46 cameras to aboriginal kids and adults in the Alice Springs area in September 2018. Through the hard work of Nina Kolder, Mallory Potash and Kimberley Morgan we are delighted an exhibition will be taking place at Alice Springs Library on Wednesday December 12th 2018 from 4pm-6pm. The artists will be showcasing their work here.

Horses (taken by a participant) near the Santa Teresa community some 100km outside of Alice Springs

In April 2018, founder Michael Allwright visited Alice Springs to investigate whether it would be feasible to hand out cameras to aboriginal people. Kimberley, a friend of a friend, introduced Mike to Alice Springs and to people who might help with the project.

There are 3 organisations which we became involved with quite quickly and they agreed to take cameras from us and help distribute them among aboriginal kids they worked with.

These are

·      Territory Families

·      Catholic Care

·      St Joseph’s School

 In September 2018, we travelled back to Alice Springs, with Annette Cohen (documentary producer) and Jai Jaru (2017 calendar multiple winner), Mike Allwright and Lou-Fatima De Leon. We went out with the organisations to places far and wide, including the Santa Teresa community with Catholic Care and Ntaria (Hermannsburg). We spoke directly with the participants and provided them with disposable cameras for 2 weeks. We also handed out a number of cameras privately to aboriginal kids at a basketball competition.

The photos have been printed and scanned, and judges have currently got the photos down to 41 favourites. We are working to reduce this to a top 20 and top 13.

The team in Alice Springs: Kimberley, Nina and Mallory – are putting on an exhibition at Alice Springs library which will open in mid December.

Following on from the exhibition, we are hoping to launch a calendar to be shared with the Alice Springs community in early 2019.

2018 Calendar is Out

We are delighted to announce the 2018 Calendar is out. Here is the story of the 2018 winner, Shane Ross, his cover picture of "Captain Jack" and his November 2018 entry, "Bush Camp"

In my younger days I did every thing from jump the North Coast express train to Byron bay with a back pack and surfboard, to literally camp in a tent under a bridge.  What an adventure. Back then I was running from the trauma of the suburban home.  I now also realise I was suffering from decent dose of hereditary manic depression.  It claimed my father in my early childhood.

Later, I found almost a few decades of calm living in an old terrace house above the ocean.  Then, as has forced so many others into homelessness, gentrification moved into the once accepting neighbourhood.  This and all the other stressors of life took a toll on my mental health.  Soon I was having trouble finding stable employment, behind on the increasing rent, evicted, and placed on the five year rental blacklist.

I am fortunate enough to have a small yacht I can call home. Typically in NSW, it is not strictly legal to "live" on a boat.  So I have to constantly move around and explore new places?  Better to enjoy the voyage than let the tension of a "normal" life take its ultimate toll?

Captain Jack

Everyone loves Jack! He is a seven year old Tenterfield terrier.  Given the standard of the other photos submitted for the calendar, I am most embarrassed that this was voted the cover shot. Still, whether it is the street people I find him in deep conversation with when I leave him outside the supermarket, or the tourists amazed at him floating past barking me to row faster, he is one popular little fella

As a puppy I press ganged him into a life on the sea.  He lives with me on my 28' classic Herreshoff yacht.  It was never meant as a live aboard, but that's what happened. Here Jack is commanding our dinghy on the Pittwater side of Palm Beach, affectionately know in the soapy "Home and Away" as Summer Bay. The little boat is our way back-and-forth to home. 

Two: Hawkesbury Bush Camp

A magic place on the Hawkesbury at the cusp of Broken Bay.  This bush camp is built on the foundations of one of the many huts that once populated the locale.  At one stage there must have been enough displaced and indigenous persons living here that spot deserved its own postcode. Many others lived - and some still do - simply in the nearby caves and bushland.  I also wonder how many were ex-inmates of the infamous Peat Island Institute for the Mentally Insane and their families?

2016 Calendar

2016 Calendar

We have sold out of the 2016 calendar but you can view it by clicking on the image below or here!

2016 Winner Statement

Katherine Temple was the winner of our 2016 Calendar project with her image being selected as the cover image for the 2016 Calendar (above). In addition, she photographed the image below, which was also featured in the calendar.

Katherine has written the following statement about her experience of the project.

“The MySydney Calendar was an amazing project. I love the way everyone was treated with respect regardless of the fact that some people homeless and have mental health project or Down Syndrome.
I believe everyone in the world is a beautiful gift from God and should be valued equally. MySydney showed that the City has many other faces beside in the postcards. Through the photographs and written material.
I had a chance to show what was deeply in my heart and to communicate my own secret thought about how I am connected to specific parts of Sydney.
I also think the MySydney project increased the confidence of all involved.
Thank you.”

— KATHERINE TEMPLE

Exhibition a Success!

Exhibition open from 26 September to 30 October.

We are excited to announce that the exhibition of the 2016 MySydney Photography Competition is now open!!

The exhibition will run from 26th September to 30th October at Lentil as Anything 391 King Street, Newtown, NSW 2042.

WE ARE HOLDING AN OFFICIAL EXHIBITION OPENING EVENT ON SATURDAY 1 OCTOBER AT 3PM AND WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOU THERE!

Please see our facebook page for the most up to date information on the opening event.

The exhibition will also provide the opportunity for the public to vote for their favourite images, that will be featured in the 2017 MySydney calendar. Voting closes on 9 October.