The UoN Community Engagement team is working hard on Engage Newcastle: Summer - an exciting continuation of the work done by local documentary photographer, Conor Ashleigh, for the launch of Engage Newcastle in August of this year.

We've asked Conor to go back out into our local community and do what he does best, to capture our people in his unique style - telling their stories like never before.

But we need your help.

The theme of Conor's Engage Newcastle: Summer shoot is 'How does our region celebrate in the summertime?' So we want to know about your event or celebration. Maybe it's a street party; a backyard BBQ with extended family; perhaps it's an event for your organisation, a Christmas concert, a Chanukah tradition, an end-of-year school assembly...  And that's just the beginning. There are countless ways we celebrate summer in our region. Tell us about your celebration.

Involvement in this project would mean that Conor would liaise with and visit your group for a short photo shoot. He is interested in capturing your group in its usual activity, authentically, not a staged production. The images would potentially be used in a variety of media formats for which you would provide consent.

Conor's work has appeared in Wall Street Journal online, Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, New Internationalist, Big Issue, Triple J and Grazia amongst others. He has also worked on international assignments for Asia Foundation, AusAID, UNICEF, Catholic Mission, International Federation of Red Cross, SOS Children's Village and Oxfam. In 2012 Conor has been nominated for World Press Photo Masterclass in Amsterdam as well as the two-year long Reflexions Masterclass held in Italy and France. Visit his website for more details.

More information is available upon indication of your interest.

We would love to have you on board - capturing the 'real' Newcastle is incredibly important to us.

Please contact Jayne Kearney from the Community Engagement office on jayne.kearney@newcastle.edu.au or 4985 4949 for more information.

Or get in touch with Conor directly  at conor.ashleigh@gmail.com