Walkley Awards reveal Australia's best photojournalists

A Melbourne-based staff photographer at News Corp, Alex Coppel has been named Nikon-Walkley Press Photographer of the Year.

While on staff, Coppel has covered a variety of major news events, including two tsunamis, several bushfires, two Olympic Games, one Commonwealth Games, and a multitude of other significant events across Melbourne’s. This is his first Walkley Award.

Presented annually, the Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism recognise and reward the best in the craft, and extend across all facets of journalism. Finalists are selected by eminent journalists and photographers with overall winners judged by the Wakley's Judging Board.

Coppel's award is the highest recognition for photojournalism in Australia presented by the Walkley Foundation and celebrates a body of work spanning sport, breaking news, features, and daily life, all loosely linked by the shadow that the COVID-19 pandemic cast over world events.

Coppel also took out the Sport Photography category for his series showcasing the 2021 Olympics, The Games that Had to Happen.

One of Oculi's founders and a Fairfax photographer, Dean Sewell won the Feature Photographic Essay category for his series, Of Mice And Men, which documented the rat plague affecting farmers in rural NSW.

‘The well-edited series comprises 12 frames that highlight not only the photographer’s technical skills but also his storytelling ability. Every photo you would want is here,’ judges said.

The Sydney Morning Herald's Brook Mitchell won the News Photography Award for his series, Sydney Anti-Lockdown Protest.

Finally, the Gold Walkley, Australian journalism’s highest honour, was awarded to journalist Samantha Maiden for her groundbreaking news.com.au feature Open secret: The Brittany Higgins story.