Celebrating The Coral Triangle

James Cook University will celebrate World Ocean Day (Friday 8 June) and The Coral Triangle Day (Saturday 9 June) with a presentation by award-winning Cairns photographer Jürgen Freund.

Creative Arts lecturer Russell Milledge said the presentation would include spectacular images of the waters, reefs and islands of the Coral Triangle.

“We are lucky enough to have Jürgen teaching a master class in nature photography later in June, but this presentation is a chance to share his work with the public and to hear his stories of working in a beautiful but highly demanding environment,” Mr Milledge said.

Yogi, as he is widely known, has been pointing his camera at all creatures great and small for several decades now, with great success.

His many awards include the 2010 PATA Gold Award for Travel Photography, for an image of marine biologist Brad Norman tagging a whale shark at Ningaloo Reef, shot for the Rolex Award for Enterprise.

With his wife Stella he has published some stunning books that aim to focus attention on valuable and fragile places.

“For the World-Wide Fund for Nature we did an 18-month expedition that resulted in our book The Coral Triangle,” Stella said.

“It was a huge project, documenting the wildlife, people and seascapes of a six million-square kilometre expanse encompassing the waters and islands of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste.”

Jürgen Freund’s presentation will run from 5.00pm to 6.00pm on Saturday 9 June in the Crowther Theatre at JCU in Smithfield. Admission is free and all are welcome.

Issued May 29, 2012

Media enquiries: E. linden.woodward@jcu.edu.au T. 07 4042 1007