Broome-based professional drone photographer Matt Deakin has been named the 2026 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year.
The Western Australian won with Ethereal Encounter – a ghost like photograph of a critically endangered green sawfish swimming with a green turtle, captured in waters off the Pilbara in the far north of his home State.
The competition, in its 23rd year and owned and produced by the South Australian Museum, is Australia’s most prestigious nature photographic contest, and this year attracted 2,129 entries from 501 photographers in 17 countries.
“This is my first Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year since joining the Museum, and I’m truly impressed by the calibre of work on display. Matt Deakin’s winning image is both beautiful and haunting,” said South Australian Museum Director Samantha Hamilton.
“The picture is serene and the colours beautiful, but both animals are at risk of extinction. Last year’s exhibition attracted nearly 25,000 visitors to the Museum and this year’s collection is just as impressive.”
“These photographs have the power to inspire, educate and spark important conversations. I encourage everyone to come and see them first-hand,” said Hamilton.
Matt snapped the image with a Hasselblad L2D-20c aerial camera mounted on a DJI Mavic 3 Pro drone. This was his first entry in the competition. For his achievement, he received the overall winner’s prize of $10,000 and a cruise with Coral Expeditions.
“My drone was about 2.5km away, the light was fading and the battery alert was beeping, and then this sawfish came out of deep water and I just said ‘wow’. It swam directly through four or five turtles – most quickly swam away but one stayed. I pushed the drone as long as I could to get the pictures,” said Matt Deakin.
“People keep asking me if it’s AI. That’s not an insult though, because it just doesn’t seem real. I won a local photographic competition with the picture and people said I should really enter something bigger. The AGNPOTY is the biggest I knew of, so I entered and thought: I’ll see how I go. So, it’s all a bit surreal at the moment,” Matt added.
Winners in the competition’s ten open categories also received $1,500 each, including the Junior winner Aaryan Dhakal from Victoria who won with a moody image of a pelican, taken at West Lakes in Adelaide wins $500.
The Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year category winners are:
Animals in Nature:
Colin Chan, NSW (Just in Time)
Animal Behaviour:
Nathan Watson, WA (Worm Wars)
Botanical:
Ben Alldridge, Tas (Alchemy)
Threatened Species:
Matt Cornish, Qld (Resilience – A fight for survival)
Our Impact:
Dave Sanderson, SA (Neglect)
Landscape:
Wayne Sorensen, Qld (Flicker)
Macro:
Georgina Steytler, WA (Insect Trails)
Monochrome:
Natalie Murray, Qld (Flight of Fancy)
Portfolio:
Lewis Burnett, WA (Our Island Ark)
Junior:
Aaryan Dhakal, Vic (Silent Grace)
The competition judges this year included were specialist landscape and aerial photographer Mieke Boynton, the 2025 AGNPOTY winner Ross Gudgeon and multi-award-winning nature photographer Jake Wilton.
Entries are accepted covering content from across the ANZANG bioregion – Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica and New Guinea.A People’s Choice award will be announced in early January.
Every year, this competition turns a lens to our region and photographers find angles we didn’t know were missing. At Australian Geographic, we believe that visual storytelling demands rigour and reverence,” said Australian Geographic Picture Editor, Lyndal Irons.
“In this, Australian Geographic’s 40th year, the competition’s output is more important than it’s ever been and we continue to be proud to partner with the South Australian Museum on the Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year again in 2026.”
The Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year Exhibition is on display at the South Australian Museum until Sunday 14 February 2027. For more information, visit: www.samuseum.sa.gov.au for details.
Image: Ethereal Encounter by Matt Deakin – 2026 Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year