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Today I visited my 93 year old Grandma, Doreen. Her eye sight's not the best these days, but her mind is sharp and her sense of smell just as good. Here, she's pictured applying her favourite perfume, Paris by Yves Saint Laurent. She loves it. I spent the afternoon recording our conversations, her poetry and stories from her growing up in regional NSW as a child. Northbridge, New South Wales, Australia. Photo: James Brickwood/Oculi

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Wedding Dress. Early morning. Melbourne CBD, NSW, Australia. Photo: James Brickwood/Oculi #weddingdress

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Couple. The Steyne, Manly, NSW, Australia. Photo: James Brickwood/Oculi

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Deflated Clown. Manly, NSW, Australia. Photo: James Brickwood/Oculi.

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When I arrived in Frankfurt, Germany a little under three weeks ago, little Chiara was still awaiting to come into this world. I met Flo back in 2008 whilst on a trip to Berlin, Germany. He's a few years younger than I but he's definitely become the mature one out of us two. I've been fortunate to travelled several times to Germany since then and have made many good friends for life. I'm lucky to call Flo one of them. Patricia gave birth to little Chiara a few hours after I arrived. I couldn't of been more happy for their new family and the chance to visit them so shortly after becoming the three of them. Tonight's my last night in Germany and i couldn't think of a better way to spend it than with these beautiful, warm people. Frankfurt, Germany. Photo: James Brickwood/ Oculi

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Oculi's David Maurice Smith has had his work from the Refugee Crisis in Europe nominated as a finalist in the 2016 Walkley Awards for Photojournalism and the 2016 Australian Amnesty International Media Awards.

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Germans don't need fine weather to enjoy Ice Cream. 5°C? No problems.. Binz, Rügen, Germany. Photo: James Brickwood/Oculi. #binz

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The white chalk cliffs of Rügen, Germany's largest island located on the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea. Jasmund National Park, Germany. Photo: James Brickwood / Oculi #whitecliffs #balticsea

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The Taunus mountain range, just north of Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. Photo: James Brickwood/ Oculi #taunus

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The Taunus mountain range, just north of Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. Photo: James Brickwood/ Oculi #taunus

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onboard the ferry from Meersburg to Konstanz on Lake Konstanz- Bodensee. Meersburg, Germany. Photo: James Brickwood/Oculi #meersburg #lakekonstanz #konstanz #bodensee

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A couple onboard the ferry from Konstanz to Meersburg on Lake Konstanz- Bodensee, late in the afternoon. Meersburg, Germany. Photo: James Brickwood/Oculi #meersburg #lakekonstanz #konstanz #bodensee

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Portrait of my the 83 year old grandma and her youngest granddaughter Elizabeth, from the archives photographed a decade ago. On the weekend she celebrated her 93rd Birthday. Northbridge, NSW, Australia. Photo: James Brickwood/ @oculi

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NEW MEMBERS TAKING OCULI COLLECTIVE IN NEW DIRECTIONS IN DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY AND STORY-TELLING

Oculi has added three new members to the Australian based photographic collective- Matthew Abbott, John Feely, Alana Holmberg.

Oculi photographer Dean Sewell, a co-founding member of the collective said, "Our new inductees represent perhaps, the single, most significant intake of photographers into the ranks of Oculi this decade. Not only have we identified some of the most promising emerging talent in the land, but have positioned ourselves for the years ahead in remaining a relevant and leading force in the contemporary photo-documentary landscape."

Alana Holmberg said, “Joining Oculi is a huge honour, I’m thrilled to have an opportunity to contribute to the future direction of a collective that has done so much for Australian documentary photography, alongside photographers who have influenced my own practice.”

Matthew Abbott said, "I have long admired the Oculi collective’s role in showcasing the best of Australian documentary storytelling and its consequential contribution to Australia’s photographic cultural identity. As someone committed to long form Australian stories I feel there is no better platform than the Oculi collective to present my vision, I am thrilled to be involved"

John Feely said, “Ever since I have been interested in photography Oculi have been an inspiration and the benchmark in Australian documentary photography. To be invited to contribute to this legacy is a great honour. Furthermore, to be given the opportunity to share, collaborate and learn within the collective pushes the boundaries of what is possible in the future. To be invited to be part of the Oculi collective is in essence to be asked to contribute in some way to the voice and the culture of my country. The idea of contributing to a collective that has continually questioned and shaped this voice is both humbling and a great honour.”

OCULI (Latin) – vision or eyes

Oculi offers a poetic visual narrative of our times and our region through distinctive styles and perspectives. At the heart of our projects, both commissioned and personal, lies a central conviction – to reveal the beauty, wonder and struggle within everyday life; to show the extraordinary in the ordinary. Our mission is to tell visual stories with a focus on the Australia-Pacific region. In 2000, a select group of award-winning photographers, united by their commitment to documentary-storytelling, formed Oculi. Since its inception Oculi has established itself as a powerful and poetic art movement for our times and through it’s growing body of work is now seen as the leading contemporary influence in Australian photographic documentary and art practice. Oculi is an art-house photographic movement in Australia with the collective vision to expose, exhibit and promote images of contemporary culture in Australia and the surrounding region.

The history of Oculi’s membership includes some of the most prominent Australian photographers in contemporary documentary and art photography. Current members are: James Brickwood, Nick Moir, Jeremy Piper, Raphaela Rosella, Dean Sewell, David Maurice Smith, Tamara Voninski and George Voulgaropoulos. Former founding members including: Narelle Autio, Warren Clarke, Nick Cubbin, Glenn Hunt and Trent Parke. Other previous members include: Tamara Dean, Jesse Marlow, Steven Siewert, Lee Grant, Claire Martin, Andrew Quilty and Donna Bailey.

New Oculi Member Bios:

Alana Holmberg (b. 1983) is an Australian documentary photographer and writer based in Melbourne. Interested in the intersection of new media, the internet and multimedia storytelling, Alana experiments with new ways to engage audiences and forge empathy through her online photography projects. In her freelance assignments, Alana works with local and international NGO and non-profit organisations to create emotive multimedia storytelling content and experiences. To date her personal work has explored the experiences of women in relation to family, body image, technology and feminism. Alana was the 2016 recipient of The Pool Grant, an Australian grant awarded annually to a single emerging photographer, and joined Oculi the same year. John Feely is an Australian photographer based in Sydney, Australia and Ulaanbator, Mongolia. His allegorical approach to photography is an extension of meaningful shared experiences. His work is influenced by previous careers as a behavioural advisor in public education and youth detention. He is committed to independent projects that provide him with the freedom the genuinely and deeply explore. John was named Australia's emerging photographer of the year and emerging documentary photographer of the year (Capture magazine) in 2016. His project, The Outsider was named as a pick of this years Head On Photo festival and he has been a finalist in several international portrait awards. His work has been featured in CNN photo, Geo (Europe) and others. Matthew Abbott is a photographic artist exploring the effect of external influences on communities, and their relationship with the land that defines them. Abbotts photographs have been exhibited extensively internationally and throughout Australia, including the Centre of Contemporary Photography, Perth Centre of Contemporary Photography, MAMA Gallery – and are held in numerous public and private collections including the National Library of Australia. Abbotts portraits have been selected for The National Portrait Prize in 2012, 2015 and 2016. In 2011 he completed a Masters of Studio Arts at Sydney College of the Arts. In 2013 His project ‘On country in Arnhem Land’ Australia won the Sydney Morning Herald Documentary Photographer Award. In May 2016 an image from the series ‘The Land Where the Crow Flies Backwards’ won the judges commendation at the CLIPP Prize at the PCP. Abbott also works regularly for global and national NGO's and non-profit organisations. Abbott is now focusing on long term personal art projects specialising in environmental portraiture, as he continues his series ‘The Land Where the Crow Flies Backwards’ documenting the impact of global warming and the decline of communities along the Murray Darling basin in Central-Eastern Australia. His latest project “When They Sing of Australia They Never Mention the Flies” a collaborative endeavour with Photographer Lee Grant following Australia’s Highway 1, is due to be completed in 2017.

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Oculi's David Maurice Smith's continued work in the Barkindji Aboriginal community of Wilcannia published in the Guardian: "Led by the Barkindji Aboriginal people of the lower Darling river, a group of approximately 100 concerned citizens gathered in Wilcannia, NSW over the weekend to blockade the Barrier Highway inan attempt to raise awareness of the mismanagement of the Darling River System. The Darling has been suffering from low flow levels, attributed to upstream drought and the over-allocation of water licenses, including those given for large scale cotton farming inQueensland. A group of representatives from the region traveled to Canberrain May to meet with politicians and share their concerns about the river, however they were left unsatisfied and the decision was made to Blockade the Barrier Highway to get the attention of lawmakers and the general public. “We want to open the eyes of Australian’s to what is happening toour inland waterways and change how our rivers are being managed to benefit not only big agribusiness.”says Murray Butcher, A community leader and Barkindji man from Wilcannia who was amongst the group that travelled to Canberra. The term Barkindji translates to“people of the river” and the cultural identity of the Aboriginal people in the region has suffered from the degradation ofthe river according to the community. “How the waterway is currently managed is impeding our cultural interaction with the river. We are leaving a disaster for our children.” says Butcher. The blockade coincided with a surprise announcement from the New South Wales government on Thursday that a 500 million dollar, 270 kilometre pipeline willbe built from the Murray river tothe town of Broken Hill, NSW to create a more reliable water supply for the community. The town previously relied upon water from the Darling River system and the decision hasheightened concerns that agribusiness North of Broken Hillwill receive less pressure todecrease water usage and increase system flows once BrokenHill has an alternative water source, leaving down-river communities like Wilcannia at risk of further issues." See the whole image series at https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/gallery/2016/jun/22/darling-river-wilcannia-residents-highlight-disaster-for-our-children.

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A gallery of Oculi photographers Nick Moir, Jeremy Piper and David Maurice Smith’s photographs of the recent storm that lashed Sydney’s Northern Beaches. The storm struck along the East Coast of Australia damaging structures and bringing flooding to coastal areas.

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This weekend Oculi's Dean Sewell and David Maurice Smith are leading the second part of their four month masterclass at Sun Studios in Sydney. The workshop has students developing and executing a project over the duration of the workshop. Students are at the midpoint of their projects and working to refine their approaches and develop their editing skills.