World renowned wildlife cinematographer, inventor, naturalist, and environmentalist Dr Jim Frazier OAM has agreed to be Taree's 2022 Australia Day ambassador following a request by the Taree Australia Day committee.
Jim, who lives at Bootawa, is best known for his work on the David Attenborough documentary series Life On Earth and Living Planet. He also filmed for National Geographic, Australian Geographic, ABC, Film Australia, Time Life and The Discovery Channel, and was the cinematographer for the cult classic award-winning film, Cane Toads: an unnatural history.
Jim is also famous for his invention of the Panavision Frazier Lens System, which revolutionised the movie-making industry and earned him a Technical Oscar at the 1997 Academy Awards. Directors Stephen Spielberg and James Cameron were among the first to use the lens.
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Jim has won more than 40 national and international awards for his work. As well as the Technical Oscar, he has been awarded (among others) an Emmy, two Gold Cameras, three Gold Tripods, and a Golden Panda.
In 1995 Jim was awarded an OAM (Medal of the Order of Australia) in the Queen's Birthday Honours for his service to wildlife cinematography. In 2016 Jim was a state finalist in the NSW Senior Australian of the Year Award.
Jim is a published author with Butterflies on My Mind featuring his photography published in 2015, and his autobiography, Through the Lens: a macro view of Jim Frazier released in late 2021.
He is also an artist with a unique medium - he 'paints' by manipulating the growth of minute crystals. Pieces of his work are in the private collections of Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton, Sylvester Stallone, Goldie Hawn and Colleen McCullogh.
With all that he has achieved, Jim considers the Symphony of the Earth (SoTE) project his life's work. Nineteen years in the designing, SoTE is a huge undertaking, at the centre of which is a feature film of the same title. The mission of SOE is 'to bring about a global shift in consciousness and awareness through the music and voices of the creatures of the Earth'.
An impassioned advocate for the environment, Jim's concept was to bring together musicians, singers and composers to produce music that would be coupled with sounds from wildlife, to communicate the message that Earth is in need of urgent help.
Unfortunately Jim has been unable to find the level of financial backing that his vision needs, and the reigns of SoTE have been handed over to a team to get the project off the ground.
Australia Day in Taree
The Australia Day Awards ceremony kicks off in Taree at 9am at the RiverStage on the Manning River foreshore. Plans are to have a concert at 5.30pm concluding with fireworks at 9pm.
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Julia Driscoll
Julia Driscoll has worked as a journalist for the Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Times for seven years. She values the deep connection with community that being a rural and regional journalist brings. Career highlights have involved environmental stories - bringing the plight of the little known endangered Manning River helmeted turtle to the attention of the public, resulting in wide-spread knowledge in the community and conservation action; and breaking the news of the Manning River ceasing to run for the first time in recorded history.
Julia Driscoll has worked as a journalist for the Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Times for seven years. She values the deep connection with community that being a rural and regional journalist brings. Career highlights have involved environmental stories - bringing the plight of the little known endangered Manning River helmeted turtle to the attention of the public, resulting in wide-spread knowledge in the community and conservation action; and breaking the news of the Manning River ceasing to run for the first time in recorded history.
