Spotlight on: Matthew Abbott
“What I’m really excited and passionate about now are Australian stories that push beyond the cliché and shed some sort of light, authenticity and truth to what’s happening… ”
Winner of the 2019 Nikon-Walkley Contemporary Australian Daily Life Prize
Matthew Abbott, The New York Times, “Chinese Tourism Boom”
In 2018–2019 Australia hosted 1.3 million Chinese tourists — more than the population of Adelaide. Pumping $11.5 billion dollars into the economy during the same period, Chinese tourists account for more than a quarter of spending by international visitors.
Matthew Abbott set out to visualise the story of this boom. He embedded himself in the most typical and ordinary Chinese tour he could find: a bus trip from Canberra to Sydney to the Gold Coast.
The result is a strong set of human interest images, which the judges agreed were composed and lit beautifully. Capturing spontaneous moments over his four-day journey, Abbott’s light-hearted, fly-on-the-wall documentary journalism helps us see Australia through Chinese eyes.
The Nikon Walkley judges commended Abbott for his “real commitment to this story, with a lot of time invested and literally covering a lot of ground to shoot in locations over several states”.
We interviewed Abbott about his winning photographs, how he embeds with his subjects, and his views on photojournalism in Australia.
How did you become involved with this story? Was it a commission or pitch?
It was a pitch.
I saw some data talking about how 2018 was expected to be the largest year on record for Chinese tourists, and that they were, for the first time, replacing New Zealand as the country of international visitors.
For me, that was a great opportunity to use that as a bit of a hook to the story and think about what would be the best way to represent this story visually.
That’s the way I’m always thinking. Visually first.
I was making calls and talking to people in the tourism industry and floated the idea with my editor at the Times. We came up with the idea of finding a pretty average bus tour, the kind of bus tour we go past all the time and don’t really pay much attention to in everyday life. We thought it would be a great way to go and experience what it’s like for Chinese tourists who come to Australia and see Australia on these bus tours.
How did you find the hook?
So often, to me, that’s (the hook) is the beginning of a story. I’ll often see the Sydney Morning Herald or the ABC publish some sort of fact, and I’d think ‘that’s interesting, but I want to expand on this visually’.
To be honest, there’s not a whole lot of investment in really quality visual storytelling in this country, so I see that as a missed opportunity. All the time, I’m getting ideas off stories that are out there and ready, but I feel like they’d be better through visuals.
The idea of embedding is one we often associate with war zones or following politicians or people of power, but you’ve used it to great effect to tell this story. How did the people on your tour react to you? Did you try to fade into the background or were you interacting with them?
It’s a practical thing. So if you’re in a war zone, you’ve got to stay close to troops to keep you alive and keep you safe. But also, logistically, you’re travelling in a convoy.
It’s comparable in the sense that by being on this bus, it meant that we could be very close and experience the quiet moments that you would not think as potentially that important or that interesting. We discussed just going along to some of these tourism hotspots and photographing random tourists, but it wouldn’t have the same intimacy, or personal take on the story.
So, it was important for me to be part of the tour and I guess the reaction was ‘who is this random, really tall white Australian dude on our bus?’. Most of them were pretty responsive to it and I think enjoyed having me and the journalist along. We had dinner with them, and drink, drink, drink. We went out to the casino, and I learnt a lot as well through the process.
That’s why I love the job. It gives you amazing insight into a very specific culture and situation. So, I always choose a full immersion, or an embed, rather than just being able to dip in and dip out. But then, it requires time. We had four days, which is a substantial investment from the Times.
Shooting for an outlet like The New York Times, does that bring additional considerations when you’re thinking about how an international audience will view or interpret your shots as well as locals?
Absolutely. It all begins in the pitching process and how the story is going to be framed. They definitely prefer stories from Australia that have international appeal and say something bigger than a micro story. They are very interested in trying to influence in Australia, they do a lot of different reporting on Australia, so from that point of view, it was interesting for them. But also, they do like the idea of this really intimate and kind of dynamic storytelling, and news angles that they might get locals to digest.
What did it take to get this story up?
It’s actually a pretty straightforward story. I think in the beginning, there was a little bit of concern by a few of the travel companies that The New York Times wanted to report on one of their trips. If they were to google the journalist who was travelling with me and her byline, she’s definitely been involved in critical reporting on Mainland China in the past. But I guess it was just a matter of being able to convince people why the story is important and interesting to ride along. It’s always the way that once you get onto a story and you’re dealing with people on the ground, people are generally very willing to be involved and go along with things.
Did the story have any impact? Did people contact you afterwards?
It’s not a serious story, and it’s not an important story from and advocacy or journalism point of view. The impact of something like this is pretty small.
I don’t think journalism always has to be serious. It could be enjoyment, it could be educational, or just shining a light on something that you didn’t know existed or didn’t know that much about. I think in this case, it was a matter of being able to show a fresh take on something that we all know exists. We see the buses giving rides all the time. Being able to get an insight into what it’s like I think is what people picked up on and really enjoyed.
There’s one point in particular. The sheep runway. I got a lot of strong feedback about that photo just because for most people it was kind of a funny combination of Australian culture but in a room full of Chinese people. I thought it was an interesting dynamic. People enjoyed that. That’s why it ended up being chosen for the Australian Life exhibition this year in Hyde Park. They printed it on this big billboard. A whole bunch of other photographers got chosen as well.
I’ve been told there was a steady stream of Chinese tourists posing in front of that photo and getting selfies, and really enjoyed that photo as well. It was cool to see that everyday Australians, and also the Chinese tourists, were appreciating that story and the photos as well.
Speaking of which, you really do add a lovely warmth and sense of humour to the way these images are framed in your winning piece. I want to turn a little bit to your career now as a freelance photojournalist. What has been your experience of that?
Photojournalism in Australia, I think most people would agree, it’s really struggling here. It’s a very small industry to survive in, especially as a freelancer. It’s always difficult. I can go for months without work sometimes.
For me, it’s more than just a job. It’s part of my identity. It’s what I live for. I make decisions that aren’t necessarily financially sound decisions, but I’m making decisions to work for people where I can make the kind of work I want to make. And why I work mostly for the New York Times is because they’re pretty much the only people in Australia that are willing to invest in longform visual storytelling. There’s no-one else really doing it that are backing those kinds of projects in the same way.
What made you want to be a photojournalist?
I’ve always been a visual person. I was into art as a kid. Photography has been a part of my life since I was very young, but it slowly evolved into photojournalism. For me, photojournalism is the end of that road. It’s the one I’m really into right now. I’m into a whole bunch of other photography as well, all forms of visual storytelling.
What I’m really excited about and passionate about now are Australian stories that push beyond the cliché and shed some sort of light, authenticity and truth to what’s happening in regional Australia and what’s happening in parts that aren’t as accessible to the everyday public.
What are you most proud of about the stories you’ve told? Is there anything that sticks out in particular?
I think what you mentioned before about the humour. For me, that’s a very important element. I don’t want them to just be observational. I want people to really be surprised,fascinated, or even find them kind of hilarious. To me, that’s success. I’m not interested in one-dimensional photographs where you describe your scene. Definitely for me, emotion and humour and all these other qualities are critical. And feedback from other people appreciating that, what the Walkley judges said in their comment as to why they chose this. For me, it was nice they were picking up on that.
What’s your message to Australians about why quality journalism needs their support?
To be able to provide colour to the world around us, to be able to learn about the world. I think journalism is a great medium for that. Specifically, in photojournalism, to be able to show people, to bring something into their everyday lives. In a time when you see so much PR and advertising images showing people what’s happening, there’s not that kind of honesty to that work. And of course, journalism is incredibly important for more serious stories where we need to be revealing what’s happening and shining a light on things.
Definitely, it would be great to see photojournalism itself, and specifically photojournalism, get more love and a little bit more commitment. The Judith Neilson grants that were released recently, they’re a great thing for journalism in this country, but there hasn’t been any sort of focus or any sort of money put aside towards photojournalism at all. It’s almost like it’s been forgotten about. This is an important part of journalism in this country, and it should be funded.
What’s the best thing about receiving this prize?
Probably the free camera you get. But seriously, it’s great to be recognised by your industry. That’s the most you can ask for, right? You get the tick of approval. It’s great that people have seen my stories and really getting into them and appreciate them enough to give me the award. That’s awesome.
Interviewer: Caroline Tung, 2019 Jacoby-Walkley Scholarship winner.
Matthew Abbott (1984) is a documentary photographer based in Sydney, widely recognised for photographing social, cultural and political stories covering contemporary suburban and regional Australia. Abbott is interested in intimate storytelling, shining a light on quiet moments that usually go unseen. He believes that storytelling works best when it comes from a close connection to its subjects.
Abbott is a regular contributor to The New York Times. His work has been recognised through a number of prestigious awards, including winning the inaugural 2019 Rust Belt Biennale. And won the 2018 and 2019 Nikon-Walkley Contemporary Australian Daily Life Prize. He is represented internationally by Panos Pictures in London and is a current member of the Oculi collective, Australia’s leading co-operative of visual storytellers. Abbott was the inaugural Oceania representative for the World Press Photo Global Talent Program.
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 Contemporary Australian Daily Life Prize is supported by Nikon Australia.
