Spotlight on 2024 Nikon Prize winners and Walkley Award photography finalists
See hero images from each photographer nominated for the 69th Walkley Awards.
All photographic category finalists and prize-winners detailed below were announced today alongside all the finalists in the 69th Walkley Awards.
The Walkley Awards for Excellence in Photojournalism recognise the work of photographers across a range of genres, from news and sport to portraiture and photographic essays. These images let us reflect on the year in news, through the individual worldviews and skilled lenses of Australia’s best photographers.
The winners of the Nikon Photography Prizes are listed below, along with Walkley Awards photographic category finalists. A single ‘hero’ image is included below to represent each finalist, though their nominated entries may include multiple images (up to five images for Sport Photography and News Photography; up to 12 images for Feature/Photographic Essay; up to 10 images for Nikon-Walkley Press Photographer of the Year). All images from the two prize-winners and all finalists in the Walkley Awards for Excellence in Photojournalism will be on display at the State Library of NSW from 23 November, 2024 as the Nikon-Walkley Press Photography Exhibition.
All Walkley Award winners will be announced at a gala dinner in Sydney on November 19. You can find information about the Walkley Awards judging process here and the Terms and Conditions of the Awards here.
Content warning: This post includes images that may be graphic or confronting.
2024 NIKON PHOTOGRAPHY PRIZE WINNERS
These are not Walkley Awards, but prizes administered by the Walkley Foundation on behalf of Nikon. These photos will also appear in the Nikon-Walkley Press Photography exhibition.
WINNER: NIKON PHOTO OF THE YEAR
Kate Geraghty, The Sydney Morning Herald, ‘Funeral at Al-Aqsa’
Kate Geraghty has been named the winner of the 2024 Nikon Photo of the Year Prize for ‘Funeral at Al-Aqsa’.
The 2024 Walkley Photography Judges said Kate Geraghty’s photo of Palestinian mourners being stopped by an Israeli official at the Al Aqsa mosque felt so emblematic of a frozen moment in the stand-off between two states, it had to be their Photo Of The Year.
‘No single image can capture the nuance of an entire story, but it can encapsulate in a moment a more complex story or issue. Kate Geraghty anticipated the moment, bearing witness with technical skill, exemplary composition and empathy. Even though this was a temporary impasse, and the funeral procession moved on, this moment indicates the stalemate of the past year’s conflict.’
Kate Geraghty joined The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper in 2002. She has covered assignments including wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, South Sudan, Ukraine and most recently the Israel-Hamas War. She is the proud recipient of several Walkley awards including the 2017 Gold Walkley Award with Michael Bachelard.
WINNER: NIKON PORTRAIT PRIZE
Christopher Hopkins, The Age/SMH, Good Weekend Magazine, ‘Scars of Regret’
‘Portraiture isn’t about the photographer, it’s about the subject,’ said the judges. ‘In this image we can see that Christopher Hopkins has created conditions where his subject feels comfortable and in control enough to pull down her mask. It’s a single capture but it looks like he spent a lot of time with his subject developing the frame: there’s intimacy, vulnerability, and trust shining through. The painterly lighting and stark composition put focus on Mel, stripped down, simple and beautiful in a way that recalls Diane Arbus. Then there’s the visual image of transition and identity. Mel’s stare expresses the pain of this journey to feel at home in her body. She holds the viewer’s gaze and makes you want to learn more, connecting this human moment to a broader issue for the community.’
69th Walkley Photography Award finalists
SPORT PHOTOGRAPHY
Finalist: David Gray, AFP, ‘Light, shadows, action at the Australian Open tennis’
Finalist: Nick Moir, The Sydney Morning Herald, ‘Birdsville Rodeo’
Finalist: Quinn Rooney, Getty Images, ‘Australians in the Pool’
NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY
Finalist: Flavio Brancaleone, The Sydney Morning Herald, News.com.au and The Australian, ‘Bondi Junction Stabbing Attack, no place is immune to the reach of terror’
Kate Geraghty, The Sydney Morning Herald, ‘Aftermath of October 7 attacks’
Finalist: David Gray, AFP, ‘Walk to freedom’
FEATURE/PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY
Finalist: Sean Davey, Oculi / ABC News, ‘The Goode Fight’
Finalist: Diego Fedele, Freelance / Getty Images, ‘In the Shadow of a Deadly Sky’
Finalist: Christopher Hopkins, Freelance / Al Jazeera, ‘They Teach Us to Sing’
NIKON-WALKLEY PRESS PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
Award Partner Nikon
Finalist: Matthew Abbott, Freelance / Oculi
Finalist: Christopher Hopkins, Freelance
Finalist: Nick Moir, The Sydney Morning Herald
For media enquiries, including requests to reprint finalists’ photos online or in print, contact James Gorman on james.gorman@walkleys.com.