Recently I photographed the 2014 Australian Psychological Society conference held at the Hobart Grand Chancellor.
It’s always interesting listening to the statistics that come with stringent study from great minds. Hearing how “we” work, and why we are the way we are is fascinating.
This conference was both enlightening and confronting though. As I moved from room to room, I heard from people with big hearts, trying their hardest to do their best for all members of society. I was especially impressed by the passion for compassion directed at our Indigenous brothers and sisters, as well as the asylum seeking community. There are some broken people on our soil, and these were the great men and women trying to mend them. They spoke confidently, with a calm demeanour, and a clarion call for better support and funding for mental health issues in Australia.
From a conference photographers point of view, events like these are always a challenge to photograph. Big rooms, dimly lit – always present a technical challenge. I have a new phone that now tells me how far I travel during the day. On day one alone, I walked 2.2 kilometres around the Hobart Grand Chancellor. After the keynote speaker, there were seven sessions in seven locations, all at once – quite a workout for me… A technical and physical challenge to say the least.
