Marc Payne took this photo at Nelson Bay and received an honourable mention in the Long Exposure category of the Minimalist Photography Awards.

Parkes photographer Marc Payne has received another feather in his cap with international recognition for two more of his images.

Marc received two honourable mentions in the third edition of the Minimalist Photography Awards, less than a month after his portrait study of Dustin Howearth was named in the top 101 portrait photographs of the year.

Marc received his honourable mention in the Long Exposure category for a photo he took at Nelson Bay, and a photo of Lockey Harbidge from Parkes that he entered in the Portrait category. Both photographs will be published in the Minimalist Photography Awards Annual Book, while his portrait study in the Top 101 will also be published in a book.

The competition received 3,700 entries from 39 countries over 12 categories. The jury consisted of prominent figures from the photography industry and included Nick Moore of the British Journal of Photography, Paula Tognarelli of the Griffin Museum of Photography, Peter Ibsen of Sunday-S Gallery, Craig Whitehead – Street Photographer and Milad Safabakhsh – B&W Mini-malism Magazine. Australian photographer, Allen Koppe, won the title of minimalist photographer of the year 2021 and a $ 2,000 prize.

The joys and challenges of breastfeeding have been shared through women’s stories in a unique book to celebrate World Breastfeeding Week.

The Western NSW Health District (WNSWLHD) launched the Aboriginal Breastfeeding Story Book, which is a collection of women’s stories aimed to empower women to breastfeed.

“Coming together and sharing stories is an important part of learning in Aboriginal cultures,” said District Manager Maternity and Children’s Strategies, Alison Loudon. “Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 restrictions, safe community gatherings have been limited and learning through storytelling has been impacted”.

The Aboriginal Maternal and Infant Health Service was approached by Community Elders raising their concerns about the reduced breastfeeding rates in Aboriginal Communities. Traditionally, breastfeeding was common practice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.

Latest data suggest 52.9% of Aboriginal women are exclusively breastfeeding on discharge, compared to 77.8% of non-Aboriginal mothers. “That is how the Aboriginal Breastfeeding storybook was developed through the Aboriginal Maternal Infant Health Service and Elders.

“It talks about the joys of breastfeeding booris (babies) and the challenges. “The storybook will not only help new mothers but has positively impacted the women who have shared their experiences.

“This has been an exciting and rewarding experience for everyone involved,” said Alison. The storybooks will be available to all pregnant women who receive the Aboriginal Maternal and Infant Health Service. World Breastfeeding Week started on 1st August.

The Scrap Bin Lamp created by Deb Jones. She won the Herb Clarke Memorial Award.

Several creations from the Parkes Shire did very well at the regional Waste 2 Art exhibition with four winners and seven highly commended entries. The regional exhibition is currently running at the Outback Arts Creative Centre in Coonamble until 3rd September. The Parkes winners are: Deb Jones, who won The Herb Clarke Memorial Award for her Scrap Bin Lamp, Middleton Public School is the winner of Building/Sculpture 3D for their entry called Barugil, Rex Veal is the winner of Building Sculpture/Functional for his Chook RV, and Trundle Central School, School to Work is the Winner of High School Functional for Time in Chain.

The seven highly commend-ed entries were from Kelsey Finnegan, Blake McMahon, Hayley, Charlotte, Milla and El-odie Ballantyne, Meredith Bar-ber, Ian Row, Elsie Mahon and Helen Standen.

Parkes Shire Manager Cultural, Education and Library Services Kerryn Jones thanked everyone for entering saying it was a wonderful exhibition. The theme for next year is soft plastics. “So put your thinking caps on, we can’t wait to see what you come up with!” Kerryn said.

Six lanes of testing at the former Bunnings site in Orange last week during the stay-at-home lockdown meant cars were in and out in under one hour at the peak of testing. (Photo: Orange City Council)

While the stay-at-home order for communities of Orange, Blayney and Cabonne ceased at midnight on Tuesday, NSW Health encouraged people to keep on getting tested at the first sign of even mild symptoms.

“As there has been a case recently in the community, and the ongoing outbreak continues across Sydney, it is vital people come forward for testing,” said WNSWLHD Chief Executive Scott McLachlan.

Member for Orange Philip Donato expressed his appreciation to the community for their patience and cooperation in response to the sudden and unexpected stay-at-home health order issued by the NSW Health Minister in response to a positive local COVID-19 case the previous week.

“This precautionary measure was to prevent our country communities from experiencing the situation we’ve seen unfold in Sydney, where a delayed and passive response to an initial breakout of Delta is still yet to be harnessed more than five weeks into the State capital’s health crisis.”

“I want to congratulate the communities of each the Orange, Cabonne and Blayney Local Government areas for cooperating with the health order, and I wish to extend my appreciation for their patience and understanding.”

“I realise many local businesses and workers have suffered a financial impact, though that impact may have been more substantial if COVID were to spread, such as we’ve seen in Sydney.”

Phil said more than 10,000 COVID tests were done during the lockdown, as well as sewerage testing, which had all returned negative tests.

“I would also like to thank those essential workers who kept the lights on, and all those who facilitated the COVID testing sites and subsequent pathology testing.

“It’s important that we do not become complacent, and maintain our proactive regime of QR check-ins, social distancing, wearing masks and sanitising.”

We ran a guessing competition for Paint The Town REaD this month and there were a lot of good guesses. It seems like the mystery person was a bit too mysterious… but Lorraine Chambers was drawn as the winner. Pictured is her little granddaughter Elly Lewis enjoying the book prize. Read next week’s issue when we will reveal the identity of the mystery person, and some more news about the new format for the Community Reading Day this year.