Natalie Grono wins 2022 Nikon Photo of the Year Prize

‘Peter Takes A Moment’ the winning image in the 2022 Nikon Photo of the Year Prize. © Natalie Grono. 

The floods in NSW’s Northern Rivers were one of the biggest stories in Australia in the past year, and the judges thought Natalie Grono’s image captured the story, and our nation, in a standout way. “Peter is a quintessential Aussie – exhausted and covered in mud, yet stoic and somehow hopeful, he pauses before tackling the mammoth task of resurrecting his life. Natalie Grono encapsulates the aftermath of the floods with the contradiction of palm trees against sunny skies while Peter is still knee-deep in water.”

‘Johnny and his Dogs’, the winning image in the Nikon Portrait Prize. © Justin McManus.

Justin McManus of The Sunday Age and The Age was awarded the 2022 Nikon Portrait Prize for his photograph, ‘Johnny and his Dogs’, which shows Chairman of Nurrdalinji Aboriginal Corporation, Kuranjini man, Johnny Wilson on Country with his dogs. Johnny, along with other Traditional Owners, is fighting to stop fracking on their Country in the Beetaloo Basin, Northern Territory. The judges commended Justin McManus’ commitment to the story of Indigenous communities and Traditional Owners from the Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory battling fracking for natural gas by large energy companies on their traditional lands.  “One man at home in a landscape under threat tells a story that could go unnoticed if it were not for Justin McManus’s dedication. That’s a portrait of Australia right there.”

The winning images and all finalists in the Walkley Awards for Excellence in Photojournalism will be on display in the Nikon-Walkley Press Photography Exhibition hanging in the Fountain Court of NSW Parliament House, from November 1 until December 16. Click here for full details of the winners and finalists.