Paper Tigers: Documenting Our Environment

Dam in Drought - near Come By Chance, NSW

David Gray began his career as a cadet photographer at The Australian newspaper (1988), working as a staff photographer from 1991 (Canberra Press Gallery), then specialising in sports coverage. 

Death on the Darling

Moir’s passion is capturing the dramatic environmental phenomena of Australia, from its ragged lightning and dust storms and blackening bushfires to the devastating effects of climate change. He is currently the chief photographer of The Sydney Morning Herald.

Moir's photograph captures a red kangaroo drawn to the last drops of water left in the Darling River system which became stuck in the thick mud in the centre of Lake Cawndilla near Menindee. Dozens of roos, sheep, goats and emus also became stuck, too far into the lake to rescue and were so close to death that they had to be put down. 

Extreme drought and high temperatures along with poor water management has left the Darling River a barren crack in the land with only a few miles of blue green algae filled water near Menindee that is now filled with the dying carcasses of fish.

Kangaroos in Drought 2002

Michael Amendolia is best known for his photojournalistic photography on issues related to blindness and its solutions internationally. His portrait of Australian humanitarian Fred Hollows has become one Australia's most recognisable photographs.

Untitled

Simon O'Dwyer spends his time pursuing his fine art photography in Australia and globally. Formerly a Fairfax photographer for The Age newspaper, he spent 22 years documenting the changing landscape of Australia.

A Burning World

Ashley Crowther hails from Byron Bay, New South Wales, and has lived across Asia for nine years. Throughout this time, he has focused on climate change and associated social development issues.

Crowther's photograph captures a child engulfed by plumes of smoke from burning coal inside an unregulated charcoal production field in Jharkhand, India, which holds some of India’s largest coal reserves.

Nancy wonders if she should stay or go

Australian photographer and videographer Tracey Nearmy has worked for numerous publications throughout Australia and overseas over the past 20 years.

In Nearmy's photograph we see Nancy Allen and Brian Allen, who used garden hoses to wet down their house as high winds pushed smoke and ash from the Currowan fire towards Nowra on 4th January 2020.

Is That All You’ve Got?

Rob Maccoll covers disasters and conflict including wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the AIDS epidemic and violence in Papua New Guinea, bombings in Bali and Jakarta, the tsunamis in Phuket, Aceh and Ghizo, and floods, cyclones and bushfires closer to home.

In Is That All You've Got? we see Andrew Schirner, Daryl Webber and Mick Pearson having another drink to celebrate surviving Cyclone Yasi. They had partied all night as their Silkwood home collapsed around them.

Moment of impact. Antarctica 2010

Glenn Lockitch is an independent human rights and environmental photojournalist. He has photographed in Australia and overseas for 27 years.

In the Southern Ocean of Antarctica, Lockitch's image shows Japanese harpoon ship, the Yushin Maru 3 (right), trying to shake off the anti-whaling ship Sea Shepherd, the Bob Barker (left), from the Japanese factory ship the Nisshin Maru's tail (background), ramming the Bob Barker and tearing a one-metre gash in its hull.