Animals in enclosures - Did this ever cross our mind?

In the human society, all tend to respect and give hero / heroine treatment to someone who endures pain for others benefit. Showing gratitude like that is a great human quality. But attitude is quite discriminatory when it comes to animals that are imprisoned in small enclosures in public and private zoos, circuses and other scientific and entertainment ventures for humans comfort. For instance an African lion that would roam around a territory of 20-400 sq km is, in most cases, confined to a few square meters during its whole life for our joy. Did this ever cross our mind when we enjoy watching them - glossy coats, bright rainbow coloured feathers, piercing or sleepy eyes, feeding, social interactions etc?

NYPH 09

Happy to have become a nominee in the editorial series. Well, maybe not so happy for not becoming winner !!!


NYPHA’09 Nominations
The Jury of the New York Photo Awards 2009 (NYPHA’09) is pleased to announce the following Nominees.

To be named a nominee of the New York Photo Awards 2009 means that one has been selected for the final round of judging, during which time only three finalists will be chosen (Winner and two Honorable Mentions). Considering the number of rounds that the Jury has already been through, being nominated is truly an award in and of itself. We are very proud of this year’s Nominees. It is clear that they represent the Future of Contemporary Photography, and we wish them continued success.

The Winners and Honorable Mentions will be announced (and their work presented) at the Gala Ceremony for the New York Photo Awards 2009 on Friday, May 15th at 8pm in the St. Ann’s Warehouse Auditorium. This is a special ticketed event, there are only 415 seats, and they are selling out fast. Last year, we packed the place to the gills, and still had another 200+ people flowing out to the streets. So, if you want a seat, you have to have a ticket. Festival passes and tickets can be purchased here.

Without much further ado, the Nominees for the New York Photo Awards 2009 are:

NEW YORK PHOTO AWARDS 2009

NOMINEES

Editorial Series

Dirk-Jan Visser (2 series)
Dima Gavrysh
Ricardo Garcia
Albertina d’Urso (2 series)
Denis Rouvre
Gary Dwyer
Michael Goermann
Coco Amardell
Emilio Morenatti
David Guttenfelder
Oded Balilty
Jerome Delay
Lynsey Addario
Espen Rasmussen (2 series)
Ed Kashi (2 series)
Ryan Carter
Gerald Slota
Christian Als
Ethan James
Gabriele Stabile
Jagath Dheerasekara
Thomas Lekfeldt/Ekstra Bladet
Moises Saman
Matthieu Paley
Clemence de Limburg
Tim Gruber
Finbarr O’Reilly
Alex Majoli
Charles Ommanney
Shaul Schwarz
Tiana-Markova-Gold
Q. Sakamaki
Carol Guzy
Michael Corridore
T.J. Kirkpatrick

Finalists for the Short film/video awards will be announced on Friday, May 15th during the Gala Ceremony of the New York Photo Awards 2009.

Thanks to all of our participants and the Jury for the phenomenal collective spirit, passion and energy that has gone into this, the second New York Photo Awards. It has been an inspiring experience for all involved.

Good Luck to our Nominees!

Frank Evers
Chairman of the Jury, New York Photo Awards 2009
Co-Founder/Co-Chairman, New York Photo Festival 2009

Hut 47 - Casa Latinoamericana

The Domain, Sydney

Primo Italiano 2009. Romeo and Juliet. Stanley, Yurong, Riley streets

It's amoure !

More than 40,000 people attended Primo Italiano 2009. It is a popular annual event in the festival calendar of the City of Sydney. Primo Italiano celebrates Sydney’s original little Italy and the rich Italian history of East Sydney. The day was extra special for East Sydney couple Liesel and Johnny who have played as the love-struck Shakespearean couple, Romeo and Juliet at Primo Italiano for the past 3 years got legally married at this year's Primo Italiano in a ceremony involving the whole community.
Neighbourhoods of Stanley, Yurong and Riley Streets were convereted to a giant wedding reception “hall” to host the big Italian wedding party with a giant wedding cake, Italian music, dancing and other entertainments. Three streets offered the visitor with taditional Italian food and drinks from the stalls as well as from the restaurants in the neighborhood.

Italians began migrating to Australia en masse after World War II. It was a time when Europe was war ravaged; many infrastructures were badly damaged and employment was low. It was a time too when Australia was realising that, to have a secure and viable future, it needed to populate. The Australian Department of Immigration was newly formed, created by a Labor government in 1945. In March 1951 the Australian and Italian governments signed the Assisted Migration Agreement. Enduring the sometimes gruelling application process, hundreds of thousands of Italians took the opportunity, and risk, of assisted passage and set off for a new life in Australia. The majority of Italian immigrants came between 1945 and 1972. There were almost 400,000 of them, a significant number given that Australia's population in 1945 was only 7.5 million. After the British, the Italians were the next largest group to migrate to Australia. Although there doesn't seem to be an official list of towns which the Italians left behind, it appears that specific regions were targeted by Australian immigration officials. A case in point is the valley running inland from the seaside city of Chieti in Abruzzo, which is dotted with Australian connections. (this paragraph is courtesy of http://www.jbtphotography.com/il_destino.htm)