Famous Australian Photographers

Helmut Newton was a German-American photographer whose works earned him accolades all over the world. His photographs were featured on popular fashion magazines like Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. He also worked closely with Playboy, shooting several pictorials of models like Kristine DeBell and Nastassja Kinski.

Known for her creative photographs of babies, Anne Geddes has also contributed to many best-selling photobooks and calendars. A school drop-out, she initially worked in television and took up photography seriously at 25, becoming a full-fledged photographer at 30. She is also an ambassador of initiatives such as Shot at Life.

Austin Stevens is a South African-born Australian herpetologist, television personality, naturalist, wildlife photographer, author, and documentarian. Stevens is renowned for hosting the popular TV series Austin Stevens: Snakemaster on Animal Planet from 2004 to 2009. Apart from showcasing snakes, the show also focused on other wild animals like rhinos and hyenas.

Australian photographer Frank Hurley is best remembered for recording the Antarctic expedition of Sir Ernest Shackleton, known as Endurance. He also risked his life clicking pictures in both the World Wars. After running away from home at 13, he studied engineering but found his calling in photography.

Australian photographer Peter Lik, known for his landscape and nature photography of places such as Alaska, Hawaii, Utah, and New York. His first photo was that of a spider in his own backyard, which he clicked at age 8 with his Kodak Brownie box camera. Critics have accused him of photoshopping.

Known for his colorful mop of hair and his philosophy of Think Big, Darryn Lyons was initially a talented war photographer and was even once kidnapped in Bosnia. His coverage of the fall of the Berlin Wall won him many awards. He later became a successful entrepreneur and reality TV star.

Known for his use of dramatic chiaroscuro lighting and bokeh blurred backgrounds, Bill Henson is a leading Australian art photographer, whose works are regularly exhibited in major galleries across the world. Employing light as a tool, he has successfully captured different moods like terror and awe, concurrently capturing duality like nature and civilization, youth and adulthood, male and female etc.

Max Dupain began clicking pictures with his first camera at age 13. Mostly a landscape photographer, his works mirror the geometry of his industrial subjects. His best-known works include Sunbaker and Bondi. He was also made an OBE. He was married to pioneering photographer Olive Cotton.

Better known as Alice Springs, June Newton was the photographer-actor wife of photographer Helmut Newton. Born in Melbourne, she initially performed on stage as June Brunell. Later, she gained prominence as a fashion photographer and celebrity portraitist. She headed the Helmut Newton Foundation after her husband’s death in an accident.

Best known as George Michael's boyfriend, Fadi Fawaz is a former hairdresser, photographer and model of Lebanese descent. Currently a resident of England, he worked for a large number of celebrities before meeting the late pop singer, eventually embarking on a relationship with him, which lasted until the latter’s sudden death in 2016. Little is known about him since then.