It's not the first time and certainly won't be the last that magnificent mullets have graced the Sporting Globe.
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The restaurant is a canvas for photographer David Cossini's exhibition 'Business in the front, Party out the Back' which is part of the Ballarat International Foto Biennale which opens on August 26.
Mr Cossini is a documentary photographer who specialises in immersive, long-form projects and portraits often featuring people on the edges of society.
He often travels to festivals across Australia, capturing the people he meets along the way.
![Image from David Cossini's exhibition Business in the front, Party out the Back. Picture supplied Image from David Cossini's exhibition Business in the front, Party out the Back. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/michelle.smith/9289cabb-3519-4e12-b3ce-2275cde72c57.JPG/r0_0_523_671_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"One of the festivals I go to is Mulletfest, not far from where I live (in Newcastle)," he said.
"Some people give bogans a hard time but I find them really friendly, easy to get along with, they work hard, like to have a good time, don't take themselves too seriously and have a really good self-deprecating sense of humour."
Because of his subject matter, he often finds it difficult to get work published so the offer of a BIFB exhibition was a welcome opportunity.
"It's not that easy when you take these kind of subjects to get published because not everyone finds it fascinating, or it doesn't really fit in with studios - they are peripheral figures to society and it's easy to overlook them, so I'm very happy," he said.
It's the challenge of capturing the essence of a person in a photograph that draws Mr Cossini to taking portraits which for the BIFB will be displayed larger than life on the Sporting Globe and Regent Cinema.
"For me, what I like about portraiture is actually capturing the person. As a photographer you've got to take ego out of it," he said.
![David Cossini's exhibition Business in the front, Party out the Back featuring magnificent mullets will be on display on the outside of the Sporting Globe and Regent Cinema as part of the Ballarat International Foto Biennale. Picture by Adam Trafford David Cossini's exhibition Business in the front, Party out the Back featuring magnificent mullets will be on display on the outside of the Sporting Globe and Regent Cinema as part of the Ballarat International Foto Biennale. Picture by Adam Trafford](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/michelle.smith/b9ba65e6-bb0e-448a-9d90-495122400c7a.jpg/r0_0_5680_3786_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"It's easy to understand what makes a good photo, but if you go to something like Mulletfest where there are such great personalities, the way they look, talk, act ... if (photographers) go there and take their own ideas it really strips all the people of all their personality and puts their own personality over the photo and it's boring.
"I think if you've got these fantastic people, not just the way they look but their attitude, you've got to capture that person's personality."
Mr Cossini will also have a showing of his short film Grande Bruto, telling the story of the recent life events of his 74-year-old dad Leo, at the Regent Cinema on Saturday, August 26.
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"I started to do a photo project on my father's life when I got stuck here during COVID, when I was only supposed to be here a month. My father was in a mental hospital ... and I had to help him get back on his feet and the easy way for me to handle that was behind a camera taking photos," he said.
A friend suggested making a documentary movie instead, and took video of Leo and his mate.
"It's about mateship and a couple of Australian larrikins who've got an addiction problem but a lot of humanity," he said.
During the course of the movie, which comprises 13 short films which run for a total of 29 minutes on a loop, his father got sober, found love and got married for the third time.
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