Something else. Someone else.
Somewhere else.
You.
When I was nineteen and a cadet journalist, one of the newspaper’s photographers handed me his Nikon, taught me the exposure triangle in two minutes, and sent me off to take my own pictures of the story that I was covering. Afterwards he looked at the shots I’d taken and said: you're better at photography than you are at journalism.
For years I shot everything — rodeos, football, state elections, factory fires. Then, in the hurry and the ambition, the pictures fell away.
A long way down the road my daughter asked if I had a camera. I found one, and tried to photograph her. The result wasn't sharp, wasn't well composed — but as I looked at it, my breath went short. I picked the camera back up and knew, instantly, that it was more to me than just a gadget: it was air. It was life.
I photograph people, places and properties, properly, in essence, in their essence. That’s what I offer.
Award-winning work, in an industry that I love.
In 2020 I won the Best Film award in the regional category of the
St Kilda Film Festival as the writer-director-filmmaker. In 2026 I had three images shortlisted in the World Food Photography Awards. I’ve won awards for sports writing, journalism, and as a wine communicator. I’ve worked in the media for over 30 years and in the food-wine space for over 25 years.
Ideas, impact, images.
The first image I ever had published in a newspaper was in 1987. It was a portrait. For the past 30 years I’ve taken pictures of people and places, moments and memories, for media outlets around the world.
Campbell Mattinson Photography also runs the campbellmattinson.com website.
The Dave Powell Series
Black and white images of Barossa Valley winemaker Dave Powell by Campbell Mattinson.