We’ve pulled together a panel of some of Australia and NZ’s finest photographers to judge the 10th edition of Photographer of the Year presented by Camera House, the biggest competition for amateur photographers in Australasia. Meet the first of our judging panel:
Alex Cearns OAM
She photographs for engaged pet lovers, corporate brands in Australia, the USA and the UK, and for around 40 Australian and International animal charities and conservation organisations. Her images have been published extensively across international media, in books, magazines, billboards and advertising campaigns.
She regularly judges photography competitions and presents at events. Alex lives with her partner, two rescue dogs, and rescue cat in Perth, Western Australia.
Matt Palmer
mattpalmer.co
Matt Palmer is a landscape photographer focused on conservation issues based in Bright, Victoria. With his partner Mieke Boynton he operates the Alpine Light Gallery. Matt has been recognised as a Master of Photography in Australia and New Zealand, and in 2019 his documentation of fires in Tasmania won him AIPP Australian Professional Photographer of the Year.
Matt has a diverse history in photography, including 15 years of documenting the world’s most influential musicians from Metallica, Pearl Jam, TOOL, Nick Cave and hundreds more. He also is a former AIPP Australian Professional Sports Photographer of the Year for his documentation of the sport of Muay Thai, and he has acted as an ambassador for Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary in Tasmania as well as collaborating with the Tasmanian Land Conservancy.
Douwe Dijkstra is a professional senior graphic designer based in Sydney. Born and raised in The Netherlands, he relocated downunder in 2003 and now calls Australia home. Photography is a strong passion for Douwe and he picked up his first camera at the age of 12.
Over the years his hobby has evolved from taking family snaps with his grandfather’s camera, to creating black and white fine art in the digital age. Douwe prefers to shoot in monochrome as he simply finds it easier to capture the essence of a scene in black and white: colour is just a distraction. He won the black and white category of the 2015 Photographer of the Year.
Helen Whittle
helenwhittlephotography.com
Helen Whittle is a fine-art photographer specialising in child portraiture who is inspired by dramatic and natural light. With a style consisting of mainly black and white, she produces simple, emotive and authentic images.
She is a proud member of ClickPro, and has many awards to her name. She received Overall Winner Australian Photographer of the Year in 2016 in Australian Photography magazine, and Runner up Emerging Portrait Photographer of the Year 2019 in Capture Magazine and overall winner in the international competition Black and White Child Photo Competition in 2019.
Helen has been a judge in many international photography competitions and has been teaching child portraiture since 2018. She regularly speaks locally and internationally on this subject. She loves to share her enthusiasm and passion and inspire others.
Anthony McKee
anthonymckee.com.au
Anthony McKee is a Melbourne-based writer and social documentary photographer. In 2014 he was named AIPP 2014 Australian Documentary Photographer of the Year. He has also won awards for his landscape photography. He has judged professional and amateur photography awards on both sides of the Tasman and in 2013 was made an Honorary Fellow of the NZIPP for his services to photography. He is a regular contributor to Australian Photography magazine.
Doug Gimesy
gimesy.com
Doug is a professional conservation and wildlife photojournalist who focuses on Australian issues. A four time finalist in the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year and the inaugural winner of the WildScreen Panda Photo Story Awards, he is a Senior Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP) and his clients include National Geographic, BBC Wildlife, Australian Geographic, as well various mastheads like The Guardian. Initially trained as a zoologist and microbiologist, he later completed a Masters of Environment and a Masters of Bioethics. Together, these two qualifications helped shape his thinking as what type of issues he should be focusing on and why – conservation and animal welfare issues.
Believing people should focus on the issues they care about and those that are close to home, his recent work has focused on the conservation and animal welfare issues facing the platypus and the Grey-headed Flying-fox – having recently facilitated the platypus being listed as threatened species in his home state of Victoria, as well as launching a children’s book (with his partner) about Grey-headed Flying-foxes titled ‘Life Upside Down’.
Current on-going projects include a series of portraits titled ‘Wildlife warriors, conservation champions and animal advocates’, documents wombats and the use of language to better frame environmental and conservation communication. He is also co-authoring a university study to help better understand how wildlife images impact both emotional engagement and drive people’s behaviour.
His hope is that the images and information he shares, will inspire people to stop, think, and treat the world more kindly.
Lisa Michele Burns
thewanderinglens.com
Lisa Michele Burns is a travel, landscape and underwater photographer who seeks to capture the world with an alternative perspective. Whether it’s through her series ‘The World from The Water’ or with the use of artistic reflections, her work showcases destinations with an ethereal, pastel tone.
Preferring to shoot extreme climates and natural, Lisa got her start in photography whilst working as a journalist for Lonely Planet back in 2007. She now publishes The Wandering Lens, a travel guide for photographers listing photogenic destinations and experiences alongside creative tips. Each year, Lisa, an Olympus Visionary, also hosts travel photography tours in places like Japan, Iceland and France.