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Draft:Dean Saffron

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dean Saffron
Born
Australia
OccupationsDocumentary photographer, filmmaker
Websitewww.deansaffron.com

Dean Saffron is an Australian documentary photographer and filmmaker, he has Kamilaroi/Gomeroi heritage. He has travelled across Australia, with a lot of work focusing on the first nations communities of rural Queensland. [1][2]

Saffron's work is held by the State Library of Queensland and State Library of New South Wales.[3] In 2025, his All Shades series of 32 First Nations portraits was retained for permanent display by the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre. [3][4]

In 2026 Dean Saffron received a National Photographic Portrait Prize finalist listing. [5]

Career

[edit]

Dean's early work was regularly seen in Australian Geographic since the late 2000s, progressing into assignments.[6][7]Southern Ocean longline fishing boat, 2012.[6]Roller derby, 2013.[8]History Alive festival, 2014.[9]Last full-service petrol station, 2015.[10]Night parrots at Pullen Pullen Reserve, 2016. [11]

Dean has been featured in two of the Australian National Geographic photo books, Twenty-Five Years of Australian Geographic Photography from 2010[12] and 30 years in 2016. [12][13]

Dean has also been published in the Griffith Review often officially referred to as image essays or visual essays, highlighting his curated photography. [14][15]

In 2017 Dean visited Cuba, a trip that touched him deeply. His empathy for the people put in such hardship, but still able to take it with great sprit, shone through in his pictures. [16]

Dean has also worked with many humanitarian organisations including UNICEF, UNHCR and the World Food Programme. [3][4]

In 2018 Dean travelled to Mexico to highlight the Workers in Informal Employment with the exhibition "Invisible Workers" to raise awareness and fight for the workers’ rights. [17]

This exhibition opened at el Museo de Memoria y Tolerancia (the Museum of Memory and Tolerance) in Mexico City. [18]

In 2020 Dean travelled to Hawaii to highlight the hard work performed by the coast guard rescue swimmers. [19]

This shot was selected for American Photography #37. [20]

The State Library of NSW currently holds 130 photographs of Dean's photographs taken between 2015 to 2020, over four purchases, These photos document the changes in Queensland over Twenty years, ranging from the glitter strip of the Gold Coast, to partying at Livid, Politicians campaigning and people protesting. [3]

A selection of photographs are available online sowing some of Dean's range with happy times like two surfers about to head out, or the heartbreak of the 2011 floods in the Ipswich region. [21]

In 2024 Dean was commissioned by the State Library of Queensland. He organised photo subjects all across the state and travelled across Queensland and the Torres Strait. The exhibition weas unique as Dean allowed the subjects photographed to chose how and where they were shown. [1][4]

The Exhibition displayed 32 portraits at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre from 31st May to 13th July 2025, opening during Reconciliation Week. Many of the subjects we at the grand opening to see their photographs displayed. [22][1][2]

The Australian Financial Review published 14 of Deans photos to coincide with the opening of 'All shades' and Dean's moto of "many nations, one mob". [2]

In September the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre announced that the show would stay on permanent display. Dr Bianca Beetson (BCEC advocate, and Executive Director First Nations at Queensland Museum) said it "enriched the art collection and cemented BCEC as a cultural hub". Aunty Bridget Garay (BCEC First Nations Advisor) said "he empowered people to choose how they were photographed". [4]

Mervyn Bishop

[edit]

In 2025 Dean recorded an oral history with Mervyn Bishop for the State Library of NSW. These pictures and excerpts were used in the exhibition Mervyn Bishop: Close Up, which opened 18 October 2025.[23][24][25]

As the first Indigenous documentary photographer, Dean hopes that his portrait of Uncle Mervyn Bishop "pays homage to one of the greatest Australian photographers that has ever lived" [5]

Filmography

[edit]

Dean has also done extensive short film documentaries including Still Swell at 85 which won Best International Short at the London Surf / Film Festival, The Spokesman which came second at VELOBerlin. And Salt of the Earth (2018), about Noosa surfboard shaper Tom Wegener, which went on to win Best Short Film at Anglet in France. [26][27][28][29]

Awards and recognition

[edit]
  • 2014 – Best International Short, London Surf / Film Festival, Still Swell at 85.[26]
  • 2014 – Second Prize, VELOBerlin Film Award, The Spokesman.[27]
  • 2016 – Highly Commended, People and Portraits, Siena International Photography Awards, The Mask Lady.[30]
  • 2018 – Best Short Film, Anglet Surf Film Festival, France, Salt of the Earth.[28]
  • 2021 – Selected, American Photography 37, Help on the Way.[20]
  • 2026 – Finalist, National Photographic Portrait Prize, Uncle Mervyn Bishop – Australia's first Aboriginal press photographer, 2025.[5]

Selected exhibitions

[edit]
  • Twenty: Two Decades of Queensland Photography, State Library of Queensland, 2020.[21]
  • Trabajadores invisibles (Invisible Workers), Museo Memoria y Tolerancia, Mexico City, 2018.[18]
  • All Shades: First Nations Portraiture, Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, 2025.[22][2]
  • National Photographic Portrait Prize, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, 2026.[5]

Collections

[edit]
  • State Library of Queensland[1]
  • State Library of New South Wales[3]
  • Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre art collection – All Shades[4]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 4 "All Shades: First Nations Portraiture". State Library of Queensland. 28 May 2025. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "In Pictures: 'Many nations, one mob'". Life & Luxury. The Australian Financial Review. 30 May 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Dean Saffron aggregated collection of photographs, 2015–2020". State Library of New South Wales. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Powerful First Nations photographic exhibition to remain on display as part of BCEC's 30-year celebrations". Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre. 30 September 2025. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Uncle Mervyn Bishop – Australia's first Aboriginal press photographer, 2025". National Portrait Gallery. 2026. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  6. 1 2 Jarratt, Phil (March–April 2012). "Heave Away Haul Away!". Australian Geographic. No. 107. Photography by Dean Saffron.
  7. ↑ Bagnall, Diana (18 December 2009). "Brunette Downs: Kingdom of cattle". Australian Geographic. Photographs by Dean Saffron. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  8. ↑ Russell, Amy (29 November 2013). "Video: The rise of roller derby". Australian Geographic. Images by Dean Saffron. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  9. ↑ Egan, Joanna (4 November 2014). "Queensland's History Alive Festival". Australian Geographic. Images by Dean Saffron. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  10. ↑ Egan, Joanna (23 April 2015). "Video: Last of the servos". Australian Geographic. Images by Dean Saffron. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  11. ↑ "Gallery: Pullen Pullen Reserve, QLD". Australian Geographic. Photographs by Dean Saffron. September 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2026.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  12. 1 2 "Photographers' Credits". Twenty-Five Years of Australian Geographic Photography. Australian Geographic. Photographers' credits: Saffron, Dean, pp. 8–9, 113, 137.
  13. ↑ "Writer and Photographer Index". A Portrait of Australia: The Best Stories from 30 Years of Australian Geographic. Australian Geographic. p. 223.
  14. ↑ Saffron, Dean (August 2010). Schultz, Julianne (ed.). "Out of Africa". Griffith Review (Picture essay) (29). Prosper or Perish. Text Publishing for Griffith University. ISBN 9781921656170.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: periodical has ISBN (link)
  15. ↑ Saffron, Dean (2012). Schultz, Julianne (ed.). "High water marks". Griffith Review (Picture gallery) (35). Surviving: Random Acts of Nature and Man. Text Publishing for Griffith University.
  16. ↑ "旅行的无限可能" [The Infinite Possibilities of Travel]. National Geographic Traveler (in Chinese) (China ed.). December 2017. pp. 18–21.
  17. ↑ Riddell, Erin (April 2018). "The Waste Collectors". Geographical. Photographs by Dean Saffron. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). pp. 38–45.
  18. 1 2 Trabajadores invisibles dentro del servicio de limpia de la CDMX (PDF) (Report). Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  19. ↑ Gibson, DW (October–December 2020). "Help on the Way". Hana Hou!. Vol. 23, no. 4. Photos by Dean Saffron. Hawaiian Airlines. pp. 36–43.
  20. 1 2 "American Photography 37 – Dean Saffron: Help on the Way". American Illustration–American Photography. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  21. 1 2 "Twenty". State Library of Queensland. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  22. 1 2 "All Shades Photographic Exhibition". Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre. 2025. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  23. ↑ Guenzler, Joseph (6 August 2026). "State Library exhibition explores Mervyn Bishop's life and works". National Indigenous Times. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  24. ↑ "Mervyn Bishop: Close Up". State Library of New South Wales. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  25. ↑ "Mervyn Bishop: the man who captured history". Koori Mail. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  26. 1 2 "LS/FF 2014 Winners Are..." London Surf / Film Festival. 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  27. 1 2 "VELOBerlin Film Award – The Winners Are..." FilmFestivals.com. 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  28. 1 2 "Front Row Seat". Noosa Today. 6 September 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  29. ↑ "Salt of the Earth – African Premiere". Wavescape Surf and Ocean Festival. 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  30. ↑ "The Mask Lady". Siena International Photo Awards. 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
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