Spotlight on: Jason South
“When the van turned up and was literally being chased by cameramen and photographers trying to get the same shot, I was in position already and blasted it through the window.”
Winner of the 2019 Nikon-Walkley Press Photo of the Year Prize
Jason South, The Age, “Running the Gauntlet”
The Nikon-Walkley judges thought Jason South’s image of George Pell managed to tell the biggest news story in Australia in a single frame, saying “it’s no mean feat to get an image that good out of a court job”. South is also a Walkley finalist this year for News Photography (“Pell”) and Feature/Photographic Essay (“Christchurch Massacre”).
We spoke with Jason about the work that goes into a great court photo, the work he’s proudest of, and why he became a photographer.
How did you get to be involved with this story?
I covered George Pell at court I think nearly 20 times altogether. I was there for the first day and all the important days. We’d often go for any reason to make sure we got a picture of him that day, so it wasn’t unusual. It was definitely part of the routine. That photo from that day was him being sentenced. We (The Age) had a few people there as well as the rest of the world’s media.
What did it take to get this story up?
The main challenge was trying to get close enough. There were lots of things in the way — police, minders from Pell who would walk in the front — so trying to get a good picture that summed up the atmosphere of what was happening was the difficult bit. It’s much easier on TV when you can hear all the noise, but positioning and getting more than one crack at it was often difficult with that many people around.
This image was part of a series of three shots from George Pell’s court case, in which you’re also a finalist for the News Photography category. Can you talk us through some of the things you bear in mind going into a court job? What planning is involved in making sure you get an image that stands out from the pack?
One of the other images in the finalists section was taken from the screen in the prison van, and that was particularly hard to get. Lots and lots of times I’ve seen the screen covering courts in different cases, that would potentially be useful on a really big case, to try get the last image of an important prisoner. I thought Pell was definitely that important prisoner.
I missed, just ever so slightly, the focus of the van going into the court on a different date. When they were delivering him out, all of the media were waiting for him at the back gate of the court to try and do the same thing: either get the van or have a crack at the screen. I realised they would not stop the van. It wouldn’t go slow enough to be able to get an image through the window and onto that little screen. So I waited a hundred metres or a little less down the road at the first set of traffic lights, that I was almost certain they’d have to stop at because it was a fairly minor road. I was just waiting there and had pre-focused on cars that had come past with their GPS and checked all my exposures. So when the van turned up and was literally being chased by cameramen and photographers trying to get the same shot, I was in position already and blasted it through the window, which was two or three frames before they realised and pushed the screen down.
Good on you. It must’ve been such a short window of time.
It was incredible. It was literally two frames, and my camera shoots fourteen frames in a second, so that’s how quick it was. So I was pretty pleased with that. I was the only one who got that picture. It was a really weird thing. It got lifted by The Australian and they ran it on their front page as well.
What impact did the story have? Were there specific examples? I know it’s been covered so much, but would you like to give your version of it?
It was such a momentous event being the most senior member of the Catholic church to be prosecuted. It really did deserve extra attention, and it had lots of extra attention. There was quite a bit of extra pressure I thought. I don’t know if that was self-induced pressure, but I definitely felt the need to try and get the best shots of all of the important days.
I’ve covered courts at The Age now for 24 years, which is a hideously long amount of time standing outside buildings. I’m quite familiar with the area, so I was in a prime position to be able to put all that practice to good use. It was important to have images that were worthy, not just basic court pictures, trying to sum up the importance and drama of the whole case.
What made you want to be a photographer?
I just fell in love it with it from high school. Being a kid, my art would be photography, I had a photography class, and during my free period I would do photography. I just knew right from the beginning that I wanted to do it in some way, shape or form. It just transpired that beating the streets of press photography was where I was able to get a good job, and I’ve loved it ever since.
What are you most proud of about the stories you’ve told?
I think the one job I’m most proud of was probably our coverage in East Timor. Back in 1999, I spent more than six months in East Timor. Because of the constant media pressure, we managed to get John Howard to send troops via the UN to go intervene over there, into the battles, massacres and genocide.
In 1999, East Timor was still under Indonesian rule and they had a referendum on their independence. And they did vote for their own independence, but as the Indonesians left, they ransacked the place, and there was lots of looting and massacring. It was really quite a dangerous place. Leading up to that referendum was incredibly dangerous. I was nearly stabbed and shot at several times. It was the best and the worst job I’ve ever done at the same time.
How do you go about working in such a hostile environment?
I don’t do it anymore very often. I think you just blindly carry on and hope for a good outcome. I’m not saying that I wouldn’t do it, but it doesn’t hold the same allure for me as it did when I was younger.
What’s your message to Australians about why quality journalism needs their support?
My message to Australians is that the media isn’t free. You should pay for one form of your media somewhere.
What was the best thing about receiving this award?
It was just total delight. I hadn’t entered for quite a few years and I’d forgotten that feeling. The best thing is affirmation that you’ve still got it.
Interviewer: Caroline Tung, 2019 Jacoby-Walkley Scholarship winner.
Jason South has been a photographer at The Age since 1995. In that time he has covered assignments in more than twenty countries including Iraq, East Timor and Rwanda. Jason is a multiple Walkley Award-winner including three Australian Photographer of The Year titles.
See our post with all the finalists’ and prize-winners’ hero images here.
Find out when the Nikon-Walkley Press Photography Exhibition will tour near you here.
The 2019 Nikon-Walkley Press Photo of the Year Prize is supported by Nikon Australia.
