"Cabramatta Lunar New Year was chaos, in the best way. My first shoot of the year left me spinning, my camera chasing moments but never quite catching the one that felt right. I wanted to capture the way this event had made me feel as a kid – the awe, the thrill — but the shots I took felt like scattered pieces, fragments of a memory I couldn’t quite pin down. I was shooting food vendors, speeches and amusement rides. Nothing clicked. The images didn’t speak to me just yet.
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Crack! Crack! Crack! Laughter and cheer poured out onto the streets. The smell of gunpowder and the banging of drums exploded. People rushed from all over, sweeping me up into the chaos. Weaving through the excitement, beneath the sequins, fur, and paint, there it was: that feeling I was chasing.
The lion dancers defied expectation, embodying grace and power, determination and joy. The grit it took to carry that lion, to make it leap and breathe, rippled through the crowd. I saw it in the way people pressed closer, wide-eyed, swept up in the rhythm of drums and the shimmer of movement. It clicked. I found my subject." PhotographerClinton Ngo Nguyen Geolocation[1] NotesThese photographs are part of the 2024 City Photographer project.
Details
Image ColourColourTypeDigitalCopyrightPartial restriction. Please contact Fairfield City Heritage Services for image use.AcknowledgementClinton Ngo Nguyen 2024 Fairfield City Photographer. Image courtesy of Fairfield City Heritage Collection.
LUNAR NEW YEAR (24/02/2024). Fairfield City Heritage Collection, accessed 07/03/2026, https://heritagecollection.fairfieldcity.nsw.gov.au/nodes/view/6584
