Facing the furnace
Peter Dench talks to Matthew Abbott about his award-winning reportage on Australia’s bush res
The day that changed everything for photojournalist Matthew Abbott was 31 December 2019. It was New Year’s Eve and he was on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, spending time with his family. It was very hot, very dry, the forecast was for strong winds. In the morning, Matthew left his family at the beach and drove towards a towering smoke plume raging in from the west. As he positioned himself in front of the re, his phone began to ring. ‘I got a call from my editor at The New York Times saying,“Hey Matt, can you shoot the Australian bush res for us today?”’ Nearly half the images from that day comprise his Australia’s Bush re Crisis, Spot News, Stories, 2nd Prize at the 2020 World Press Photo contest.
‘I was working at out for two months straight after that day. One of the main reasons is so many everyday middle class Australians were caught out, basically cut off on their holidays. For three or four days they were like refugees, they couldn’t leave, they were running out of water and food. It was a pivotal moment where people realised for the
rst time, their lives were going to be directly affected by climate change.’ As the calendar clicked into 2020, it had become a massive international story with foreign photojournalists piling into the country.
The image of tourists in Lake Conjola taking refuge at the beach as the re approached shows the human impact. Another of a kangaroo beside a ercely ablaze property, shows the animal impact. ‘The photograph of the kangaroo was published widely in the United Kingdom. I was thrilled to wake up and see that on the front pages. The photo drove home the environmental loss and what we were experiencing here at the time.’
Intense heat
In a previous reportage, Matthew had photographed in Marble Bar, renowned as the hottest town in Australia, the heat from the bush res was another level: ‘I’m wearing cotton re ghting cloth which is re retardant. It’s so thick, the radiant heat from the re doesn’t affect you as much, so you can get close. Some of the days I was photographing in were insanely hot, it was already close to 45°C, throw in running around being active, next to a re, in all that smoke, it’s a really challenging environment. You have to be careful not to get dehydrated. The biggest risk is not getting frazzled, it’s not having a heart attack. You’re body is under so much pressure, adrenalin is through the roof, your so wired – you’re looking for telegraph poles that might fall on top of you, trees that might fall down and constantly watching the re. You get to learn after a while how re moves and you do get to understand it and feel safe but remain hyper vigilant.’
Matthew took his time to cover the crisis, working independently, often having to avoid police road blocks. His commitment goes further than amazing news images of re, they show the trauma of what’s happening. Matthew’s Nikon D5 and 38mm focal length captured water being dumped by a Rural Fire Service helicopter on a spot re. He’s perilously close. Wouldn’t it be sensible to shoot on the longest lens possible, far back from the ames and aerial bombardments? ‘It’s not my style. The people I work for give me the exibility to not always have to get “the shot”. I can take more time, more risk, get closer, get something with more feeling in it with a wider lenses. Everything I shoot is on a 24-70mm. I wanted to get closer but I wasn’t sure if the guy in the helicopter would drop the water if I got too close, turns out they don’t give a s**t! They’ll drop it right on top of you. I really like that photo, a moment which doesn’t look right, water dropping on bush land. Deliberately I’ve tried to remove that context so it creates a surreal image. That’s the kind of thing I want to show, make people stop and think. It de nitely helps from a story-telling point of view.’