Year

2020

Category

Nikon-Walkley Press Photographer of the Year

Publications

The New York Times and Oculi

Matthew Abbott

“Portfolio”

Matthew Abbott said: “The last year has been a career highlight for me as a photojournalist. I feel honoured that I was able to work on one of the biggest international stories ever to come to Australia – the summer of bushfires – and that I was able to contribute to such an important news story driven by images. Having the work seen and shared by so many people gave me faith in how important what we do as photojournalists is.” 

Read our interview with Matthew Abbott here.

Matthew Abbott is a Sydney-based documentary photographer, who is widely recognised for documenting social, cultural and environmental stories in contemporary suburban and regional Australia. He is a regular contributor to The New York Times and other international media. His work has been recognised through a number of prestigious awards, including the 2020 Deadline Club Award for Spot News, second place in the Spot News category of the 2020 World Press Photo Contest and third place in the Daily Life category at the US-based Pictures of the Year (POY) awards. In 2019, he won the inaugural 2019 Rust Belt Biennale and in 2018 and 2019 he won the Nikon-Walkley Journalism Prize for Australian Daily Life. Abbott is a member of the Oculi collective, Australia’s leading co-operative of visual storytellers. 

Judges’ comments

“With a body of work that highlights his light-footed approach to photography, Matthew Abbott’s portfolio is breathtaking. A remarkable selection of shots that tell a compelling story.”

Matthew Abbott

Matthew Abbott

A kangaroo rushes past a burning house in Lake Conjola, where thousands of tourists were stranded after a bushfire tore through the seaside town on New Year’s Eve. NSW, Australia.

Matthew Abbott

Matthew Abbott

A destroyed car on a street corner in Conjola Park. The fire was so hot that the aluminium in several cars melted. Pure aluminium melts at 1221 Fahrenheit or 660.3 degrees Celsius.

Matthew Abbott

Matthew Abbott

Tourists in Lake Conjola, a popular holiday destination, take refuge on the beach near the caravan park as the Currowan fire approaches from the south-west, threatening the town and destroying property on New Year’s Eve.

Matthew Abbott

Matthew Abbott

Grant Brown washes in a makeshift shower he built on the corner of the concrete slab where his home stood before it was destroyed by the Currowan fire. Brown and his partner, Venessa Downing, now live in a small caravan close to the site of their home. After becoming frustrated waiting for the government-funded clean-up, the couple decided to clear the rubble off their property themselves by pushing it to the edges.

Matthew Abbott

Matthew Abbott

Zoey Salucci McDermott and Mike Harrington lost their house in the fires. They are currently living in a donated Winnebago near Cobargo in New South Wales. The couple gave birth to their child Phoenix in the van after the fires. It is very difficult for the couple to isolate during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the lack of space.

Matthew Abbott

Matthew Abbott

Cameron Whalebone (left) and Nathaniel Corbett (right), young Aboriginal boys from the Nyamal tribe, play at Marble Bar Pool. Once the sun starts to dip, residents of Marble Bar, Australia’s hottest town, feel free to leave their air-conditioned houses and head outside. Marble Bar Pool, a swimming hole on the Coongan River about 5 km west of the town, is a popular recreational area. Pilbara region, Western Australia.

Matthew Abbott

Matthew Abbott

Ioane Semisi, 16, tested positive to the measles and has been sleeping in the living room separated from the rest of the family while he recovers. As of December 16, 2019, there had been 5,200 confirmed cases of measles and 73 deaths in Samoa, out of a population of just over 200,000 people. The measles outbreak that began in October badly affected the small island nation which, before the outbreak, had a vaccination rate of between 28 per cent and 40 per cent, according to Unicef.

Matthew Abbott

Matthew Abbott

Family, friends and neighbours attend the funeral service of Valisa Talosaga, 2, who died after contracting measles. The service was held inside the family’s home. It is common for funerals to be live-streamed on Facebook and for photos of the dead to be recorded on phone cameras. Responding to the measles outbreak, the Samoan government declared a state of emergency and rolled out a mobile program that has reportedly vaccinated more than 90 per cent of the population.

Matthew Abbott

Matthew Abbott

Exercise equipment wrapped in plastic is fenced off at Clovelly Beach outdoor gym during the COVID-19 lockdown. Clovelly, New South Wales.

Matthew Abbott

Matthew Abbott

Dr Kanan Shah is a member of the Emergency COVID Anaesthesia Response Team at Westmead Hospital. Dr Shah is directly involved in managing the airways of patients in respiratory distress due to confirmed or suspected COVID-19 throughout the hospital. He now has the additional responsibility of ensuring the anaesthetic nurses and the theatre team are well protected and safe during intubation and extubation, a procedure known to generate the aerosols that are responsible for spreading the virus. Sydney, New South Wales.

Matthew Abbott

www.matthewabbott.com.au

Nikon is a proud supporter of the Walkley Award for Nikon-Walkley Press Photographer of the Year Award and congratulates this year’s winner.

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