The annual Walkley Awards for Excellence in Photojournalism act as something of a mirror to society—reflecting back the year we had through photographs. From news and current affairs to sporting highlights and photographic essays, the awards showcase the best that Australian photojournalism has to offer.
The Nikon-Walkley Press Photography Exhibition, which is currently on display at the State Library of Victoria, comprises finalists and winners from each category, including Nikon Photo of the Year winner Matilda Joy by Quinn Rooney, which captured an iconic moment at last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The scope of the photographic subjects go beyond Australia, covering pivotal moments across the world such as the war in Ukraine, and the Nikon Portrait Prize winner, which Walkley Foundation CEO Shona Martyn describes as “a stunning environmental portrait, showing the intergenerational impact of climate change on remote Kioa Island in Fiji.”
View, in pictures, the highs and lows of 2023 captured through photojournalism.
Dean Sewell, Oculi and Guardian Australia, ‘Return to Uluru – The repatriation of Yukun’. An emotional Abraham Poulson, great grandson and nephew of Yukun, carries his ancestor’s remains to the ceremony.
Diego Fedele, Getty Images and Ms. Magazine, ‘Eastern Ukraine Portfolio’. 440: Wooden crosses mark a mass burial site where people were interred during the Russian occupation of Izium. On September 15, 2022, Ukrainian forces discovered the site containing at least 440 bodies in a section of the Izium cemetery, in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region.
Justin McManus, The Age, The Sunday Age, The Age online, ‘Leaving the Land of Plenty’. The Last Sheep: Effie Tsagalidis tends the last of her sheep before they are sold.
Ian Munro, The West Australian, ‘Banksia Hill Riot’. Special operations group officers storm the roof of Banksia Hill Juvenile Detention Centre near Perth, bringing an end to 14 hours of chaos after the youths set fire to accommodation, armed themselves with weapons and climbed onto the roof. The inmate in this picture is a youth and cannot be identified. The face has been blurred and the T-shirt colour changed.
Jake Nowakowski, Herald Sun / News Corp, ‘Jake Nowakowski’. Yes: Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews takes to the stage at a Labor Party function at the Village Green Hotel to celebrate winning a third term in government in the 2022 State Election.
Jason South, The Age, ‘Water, water everywhere’. Making the Best of it: After most of the suburb is evacuated due to flooding the sun returns and a spot of tanning and paddling is the order of the day in South Shepparton.
Jason South, The Age, ‘Pictures of the Year’. “I’m not leaving”: Graham Baldwin, 71, lived with calf-high water throughout his house for days after flooding in Echuca East.
Darrian Traynor, Freelance/Getty Images, ‘A Dark Day’. Melbourne City goalkeeper Tom Glover, shocked and bleeding, is escorted from the pitch by teammates.
David Gray, AFP, ‘Moments In Sport’, Golden Kiss: Spain’s Salma Paralluelo kisses her medal as she lies on her back amongst confetti talking on her phone, after Spain defeated England 1-0 in the final of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup at Sydney’s Stadium Australia.
Nikon-Walkley Press Photography Exhibition
State Library Victoria
On now—January 31
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