Dean Lewins wins Nikon-Walkley top prize

AAP photographer, Dean Lewins, has won the prestigious Nikon-Walkley Press Photographer of the Year award for his portfolio of news and sports images.

Dean Lewins’ sports photos were captured at major events, such as the Commonwealth Games, FIFA World Cup, Australian Open tennis tournament, Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race and the Ashes.

Dean Lewins’ Nikon-Walkley winning portfolio

A dead sheep on a dry and dusty field near Parkes in August 2018. New South Wales has been 100% drought-declared.

Some of the more than 45,000 sheep being sold at the Central West Livestock Exchange sale yards in Forbes, August 2018. Amid the drought, farmers are offloading their stock in record numbers.

Supermaxi Black Jack, surrounded by spectator craft, leads the fleet down the coast in the 2017 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

Angus Young waits to place a guitar in the hearse with the casket of his brother, AC/DC co-founder and guitarist Malcolm Young. The funeral was held at St. Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, in November 2017

Aussie Genevieve Lacaze (centre) during the women's 3000m Steeplechase final on day seven of competition in the Commonwealth Games at Carrara Stadium on the Gold Coast.

Beads of sweat fly off Spain’s Rafael Nadal as he serves to Argentinian Diego Schwartzman in round four of the Australian Open in Melbourne.

Grenada’s Lindon Victor prepares to throw a shot put during the Men's Decathlon on day five of the XXI Commonwealth Games at the Gold Coast.

Australia's Josh Hazlewood catches England's Alastair Cook for 14, caught and bowled, on day four of the Third Test at the WACA in Perth, December 2017.

Former Auburn Deputy Mayor Salim Mehajer is pursued by media as he leaves Burwood Local Court in Sydney. Mehajer was arrested after breaching an AVO but was granted bail.

Australia's Tim Cahill looks to his family moments after the full time whistle in the Socceroos’ final group match against Peru at the FIFA 2018 World Cup in Sochi, Russia.

 

‘Also included is a very poignant moment during the funeral for AC/DC founder Malcolm Young when his brother and co-founder Angus Young, carrying Malcolm’s prized Gretsch guitar, steps to the back of the hearse as Malcolm’s casket is being loaded and pauses for a brief moment, looking almost lost and very alone, despite hundreds of mourners from the music industry attending the service,’ Dean said in his artist statement.

‘There’s so much emotion and history in the picture of Angus Young at his brother’s funeral,’ the judges said about this photo, calling it the quintessential Australian news image.

Getty Images photographer, Jenny Evans, won the News Photography category for her images series, Life Saver.

Life Saver was captured at Bronte Beach, where a swimmer found herself in a dire situation when she was sucked out by a rip.

‘They (drownings) account for more deaths per year than sharks, floods and cyclones combined,’ Jenny said in her entry statement. ‘On this particular day, the Bureau of Meteorology had issued a surf warning as massive waves were hitting the NSW coast.’

Yet the person still went for a dip!

Getting Images photographer, Scott Barbour, won the Sport Photography category for his portfolio, Sports 2017 – 2018.

The judges praised Barbour’s technical capacity with light and the timing of his shots.

Scott Barbour’s Nikon-Walkley winning portfolio

The sun sets during the Men's 3000m Under 20 race during the Zatopek 10 meet at Lakeside Stadium in Melbourne.

The Brisbane Lions sing their team song and spray Gatorade at Isabella Ayre and Nat Exon, after winning their AFLW match against the Carlton Blues at Melbourne’s Ikon Park.

Hannah Martin of England performs rhythmic gymnastics with the clubs on day seven of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Richmond Tigers captain Trent Cotchin looks up as his team celebrates with the the 2017 AFL Premiership Cup, after beating the Adelaide in the Grand Final at the MCG.

Players compete for the ball as lightning strikes in a W-League match between the Melbourne Victory and Western Sydney Wanderers in Melbourne. The match was suspended soon after.

 

‘What makes a beautiful sport image is timing. Timing can create something you’d barely catch with the naked eye, like the way Scott captured the gymnast,’ they said.

‘It takes immense skill and great reflexes to nail that timing, or to get an exclusive angle like his birds-eye view of the Richmond Tigers parting the seas of adoring fans with their first premiership cup in 37 years.’

Scott Barbour says in his entry statement how he’s proud that women’s sport features in three of the five images in his portfolio.

‘I hope it shows the increasing prominence they are deservingly obtaining in the media landscape.’
He added it has been a joy to photograph the Brisbane Lions AFLW team.

‘It has been a joy to photograph this newly formed women’s tournament that has finally given women a chance to play top level football and young girls new heroes to aspire to.’

Chris Hopkins, shooting for an SBS Instagram documentary series, won the Feature/Photographic Essay category for his series, My Name is Yunus.

Mohamad Yunus came to Australia in 2012 via Christmas Island and Darwin. He fled the persecution that has now seen his family and approximately 700,000 other Rohingyas cross the border into Bangladesh to escape human rights abuses by the Myanmar military.

‘My name is Yunus. I was born in 1990, I do not know my exact date of birth,’ Yunus said. ‘I am Rohingya and a Sunni Muslim. I want to make a story for the world. I want to do this for my family and also for the Rohingya people, those people suffering in the Bangladesh refugee camps.’

Chris Hopkins’ Nikon-Walkley winning photos

Mohamad Yunus helps members of the local Rohingya community carve a sacrificial cow as part of Eid al Adha. The meat will be shared amongst seven families.

Yunus has to support his family as well as himself. Due to the stress of his situation, Yunus often gets up in the middle of the night and drives to Idris’ Rohingya Restaurant for company.

Yunus and members of Melbourne's Rohingya community celebrate as Australia scores a goal in their World Cup match against Denmark.

Yunus often suffers insomnia, leading to late nights watching television. This unhealthy cycle compounds his stress.

Mohamad Yunus during prayer-time at his home in Springvale, Melbourne.

The Melbourne Rohingya community at prayer in the Springvale community centre basketball court on Eid al Adha.

 

Now in the relative safety of suburban Melbourne with a temporary visa, Yunus faces new challenges – isolation, poverty, unemployment, housing affordability, and constant fear for the safety of his family in a refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh.

Hopkins writes in his entry statement, ‘what the future holds for Yunus is unseen, but his commitment to family, his persistence to stay strong and his dreams to become a leader within the broader Australian community, are a testament to those that are given a second chance’.

Check out the other Nikon-Walkley winners announced back in October.