National Disability Awards Finalists

We were delighted to be asked to photograph portraits of some of the Melbourne based finalists for the National Disability Awards that are soon to be hosted with a large awards ceremony in Canberra.

We met Cashelle Dunn in Melbourne CBD and dodged the rain as we took a walk through the Melbourne laneways for photos.

Cashelle is an active and committed member of Women With Disabilities Australia (WWDA).

In 2014 she became WWDA’s youngest Vice-President and as a member of WWDA, Cashelle has undertaken significant representative and advocacy work across state, national and international forums.

Thanks for taking the time to search out some great locations for photos with us – thankfully the predicted rain didn’t catch us out!

Following our photography with Cashelle we caught up with Maurice Gleeson at Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club.

For me it was a new experience as I’ve never photographed a blind or partially sighted person so instead of asking the subject to look at the assistant, towards the light etc I had to be alot more descriptive and precise with my direction.  Strangely, this hadn’t even occurred to me until we started shooting. Fortunately Maurice is a very patient person and enjoys a chat so it was a pretty relaxed session.

Maurice is an inspiring role model who has made a significant contribution to people living with disability,
in particular those who are blind or vision impaired.

Over the years, Maurice has shown his commitment to opening doors of opportunity to people who are blind or vision impaired. He has been a member of Blind Sports & Recreation Victoria (BSRV) since 1977 and held the position of President of the organisation since 1991.

The work that Maurice does in developing and implementing programmes that improve access and inclusion has been outstanding. For Maurice, there are two major issues facing Australia:

1. Ageing society

2. Mental health.

With more people facing vision loss, a proactive preventive approach is critical and he works on programmes that support people to stay active and connected. With the attitude that everyone deserves to be an active and contributing member of society, Maurice has worked tirelessly to ensure those people with vision loss have access to opportunities in sport and recreation that might not otherwise exist.

Maurice was recognised for his efforts in 2002 when he was awarded an Order of Australia medal for service to the social and physical welfare of people with disability, particularly people with a visual impairment, through participation in a range of support organisations.

Thanks and good luck to all the Melbourne award nominees that we photographed.  We look forward to hearing the results!