Aussie Artists
BEHIND THE LENS
Doug Gimesy With an unwavering respect for his subjects, Melbourne-based photojournalist Doug Gimesy captures the beauty, power and sometimes painful reality of life in the wild, bringing some of the world’s most pressing conservation and climate concerns into focus.
for dinner. Also the penguin colony down at St Kilda is pretty cool. And both of these are within 15 kilometres of my suburban Melbourne home!
Are there certain animals you particularly love to photograph? READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Have you always had an eye for photography? Yes and no. I first picked up the camera when I was in high school around 1977, but I put it down in the mid-’80s and didn’t pick it up again until 2012. There were many reasons for that – mainly skill and confidence, but I also needed to earn a living. As I often joke: “How do you become a conservation and animal welfare photojournalist with $10,000 in the bank? Start 10 years earlier with $100,000.”
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What is the most memorable scene you’ve attended and photographed? From a natural wonder perspective, probably the massive penguin colonies found on South Georgia and Macquarie Island. But you also don’t have to go far from home to experience some incredible wildlife. The Grey-headed Flying-fox colony in Melbourne is amazing. At dusk you can see up to 50,000 megabats heading out over the city looking
Not really, they are all magnificent in their own way. If I could only ever photograph a few animals, though, my list would include platypuses, flying foxes and penguins.
You have some serious qualifications behind you. How do your studies influence the work you do today? I’ve always had an interest in wildlife, which is why I initially studied zoology at university. When I started taking photos again after nearly 30 years, what focused me on conservation and animal welfare photography was completing a Masters of Environment and a Masters of Bioethics in the early 2000s. These areas really shaped my
