Featured photographer: Michael Oulton

Michael Oulton is an emerging photographer based in Melbourne with a broad interest in people, sport and narrative-driven photography. He studied a Bachelor of Photography at RMIT and transitioned out of assisting roughly two years ago. At its core, his photographic practice is centred around making human connections. He has a fascination with image-making that gives a window into the lives of people and their experiences.

Geoff Toogood: This image was taken as part of a job for Beyond Blue. Geoff has an incredible life story working as a cardiologist, battling his own mental health issues and using ocean swimming as part of his toolkit to manage his mental health. He is also the founder of the charity Crazysock4docs -  a charity that aims to reduce the stigma around mental health in the healthcare industry. This image also won the 2023 Capture Awards in the Portrait category.

Elena Galaibovitch: Elena is a Olympic target shooter and Urologist, who was a front line worker at a drive-through testing clinic during the COVID 19 pandemic. She was selected to be a flag bearer for the Tokyo Olympics, an honour that is reserved for athletes demonstrating outstanding achievements and embodiment of the Olympic spirit. Despite all of this she was a very kind, down to earth and interesting person to get to know and photograph. 

Nathan Tang: One of the real gifts of being a photographer is chasing your curiosity. After playing (or should I say – struggling through) a social badminton session with my wife and her family, I was inspired to do some research on Australia’s most elite badminton players. I connected with Nathan and eventually found a time to meet and do a quick shoot during a training session. He has a wonderful story of picking up the sport seriously whilst studying a university course he didn’t enjoy, and going all the way from social competitions to the national team within a couple of years. This led to him representing Australia at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. He came into his badminton career later in life compared to those starting in the system at a young age. This makes him an inspiring mentor in the badminton community for those looking for different pathways to the elite level.

Catriona Bisset: Catriona is another Beyond Blue ambassador I was lucky enough to work with who is also representing Australia at the Paris Olympics this year and has been very open with her mental health struggles. Sport in particular is one of my main interests and I believe that beyond the entertainment value, sport can do a lot of good, not only for individual’s mental and physical health – but in bringing communities together through events like running clubs. 

Father: Making images of friends and family is wonderful because they are usually very patient. As I connect with them in a much more intimate way compared to a regular viewer, it can be tricky portraying them differently to how they or others might expect. My father is an Anglican priest and plays a significant role working within his community. Due to his chosen profession, we moved around a lot as a family, so my sister and I had an upbringing that was very different to our peers. For me personally, this is an image that evokes mixed feelings and is something that makes me reflect on my family in all its complexities.