I had an absolute blast this year at the 7th Australian Libertarian Society Friedman Conference, co-hosted by the World Taxpayers Associations and the Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance. I participated in two panels – one on the Drug War and another on Agorism. I also moderated a panel on the utilization of Social Media. Video of these panels will eventually be posted.
Besides the speeches, however, my focus was on capturing the attendees and moments of the conference. In 2017, I attended ALSFC with Judd Weiss, and we both spoke and photographed the event (the 2017 album can be found here). This year, Judd was busy with our company (Lit.Club), and so I came out solo.
Not only was the conference a blast (with daytime speeches, cocktail receptions in the evenings, a banquet, a yacht cruise in Sydney Harbor…) but there was also a bonus day the Monday after the conference where we got to do a Wildlife Walkabout and meet Koalas and Kangaroos as well as visit several wineries for wine tasting!
I had to break this into two albums (both posted on Facebook). I originally took 6800 photographs, and got my complete edited total down to 1100, but Facebook limits album totals to 1000 photos, so one album is primarily portraits and things, and the second album is primarily group shots, crowd shots, and things like that. I primarily prefer portraits, but I know there are people in the crowd that didn’t get solo shots, and I want to make sure as many people were included as possible.
One of the most interesting points brought up numerous times by the organizers of ASLFC was the fact that the Friedman Conference isn’t named for Milton Friedman, though everyone assumes it is. It’s named for the Friedman family, which has expressed multiple “kinds” of libertarian ideas. From the more pragmatic economic approaches of Milton and Rose, or the anarchism of David, to the “build cities on the sea” vision of Patri. The whole conference is about the different kinds of libertarianism within one family, one community, one larger-tent philosophy, and that was very much conveyed multiple times this year, between the speakers and topics, and the organizers articulating that vision.
The albums can be found on Facebook at the following links:
ALSFC 2019 (Extra Photos, Group Shots, Crowds & Conversations)
Finally, I want to thank Tim Andrews and John Temujin Humphreys for inviting me to speak and photograph.
I did not charge them for my photography this year, as I was grateful to have the opportunity to travel for this conference. Besides the week I took off of my work to shoot, I’ve spent most evenings this month selecting, editing and curating this album to be ready in under 5 weeks (which is not an easy task!).
If you happen to like my photos and wish to voluntarily donate towards my work, I am always appreciative of such a thing. No donation is required, and with or without one, you can feel free to use these photos for publications, for personal headshots, LinkedIn profiles, Tinder, whatever you want. I like getting credit for them if possible, but what’s most important to me is you looking good!
I shoot a lot of events, speak at conferences, write, and otherwise do a lot within and outside of the libertarian movement – much of it at discounted rates for the organizations I support. If you want to support my work in a longer-term format, you are welcome to join me on Patreon, where you choose a donation amount for my productivity (I offer posts featuring photo albums, videos of speeches, articles, interviews, etc).
If you’d prefer to just donate towards this project, perhaps because you like your own photos or photos of your friends, I can accept donations in multiple forms:
My Paypal is:
https://www.paypal.me/avensobrien
My Bitcoin address:
1Ht8EqhmMmdksgXfY3W7tarfYf1w9iuyPU
I can also take Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash or Dash. Send me a message on Facebook or comment for those addresses.
If you don’t know how much to donate, any amount is appreciated. Some people donate $20 or $30 per photo of themselves, or $5 for the effort or $100. No amount is too small (or too large…). The money goes towards funding more camera equipment, travel, and generally compensating me for the time I didn’t spend actually working a job that pays me money and instead worked on photos late into the nights. It’s a labor of love, so I’m happy to do it, but as a capitalist, I’m happy when the market rewards me for good work.
If you need something unwatermarked and/or larger for printing, please private message me either on Facebook or email (avens.obrien@gmail.com) and I’ll get you them (donations are VERY MUCH appreciated when you request stuff like that).
Thank you for being a model or a viewer as I continue the mission to try to make Liberty Look Good. And donations or not, please check out the albums – there’s gold throughout!
For those camera-inclined who want to know what I shot with: it was a Sony a7s with a Zhongyi Speedmaster 50mm 0.95 Full Frame Manual Focus Lens.
Lastly, tag your friends, save your shots, and share the album wherever you wish.
AVENS OBRIEN 