John Grainger, legendary Australian photographer, is found dead after going missing
Award-winning Australian news photographer John Grainger was found dead on Tuesday afternoon after going missing on Sydney’s northern beaches. He was 64.
In a statement, NSW Police said Grainger’s body was discovered in Elanora Heights on Wednesday morning.
His death is not considered suspicious.
Grainger’s career in photography spanned more than thirty years, beginning in the 1980s when he first began covering news events.
Over the years, his work has earned him numerous accolades, including a 2018 Walkley Award for his famous photo that confirmed Vikki Campion was pregnant with Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce’s baby.
Grainger was also a two-time Kennedy Award winner, with his most recent gong for a candid photo of newly elected Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on his veranda.
The photo, taken the morning after Albanese won the 2022 election, showed the incoming prime minister stepping out of his house in a Newtown Jets football jersey with messy bed hair to pick up a copy of the morning newspaper.
Renowned Australian photographer John Grainger was found dead on Tuesday afternoon after going missing in Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
Over the years his work has earned him numerous awards, including a Walkley Award in 2018 for his photograph of Vikki Campion, published in the Daily Telegraph.
In 2021, longtime rival and fellow photographer Nicholas Moir reflected on their years of collaboration.
“He is without a doubt one of the toughest photographers I have ever had to compete with as his knowledge of breaking news in Sydney, the people involved and how the story will develop is exceptional.
‘His skill forced me to always think about the next move, the next image.
“We have spent thousands of hours watching out for each other against fires, floods, murders and brutal criminals.
Grainger left the Daily Telegraph in August 2023 – the day of the Hunter Valley bus crash, another seismic news event.
Grainger’s passion for telling stories through photography never wavered, even when the job put him in danger.
‘I have been attacked many times. I had to have the police track people down. I was strangled once. Some people just see red, and that’s it. If you get in their way, it’s you,” he told the newspaper Pittwater Online News in 2023.
While his career was spent taking breaking news photographs, Grainger’s love of photography extended far beyond the headlines.
In his later years, Grainger also turned his lens to nature, capturing stunning images of birds and the landscapes of Narrabeen.