Michael Amendolia

Over the last 30 years as an assignment photographer my life has been enriched by the professional opportunites I have had telling photographic stories. Beyond the chance to be creative and share my ideas the biggest reward is what I have learned so much from those story subjects and experiences. I have had the opportunity to photograph stories across a broad spectrum of human life most of them for magazines.

After fifteen years working on staff as a newspaper photographer at News Limited in Sydney I was fortunate to early in my freelance career be accepted in 1999 as a member photographer of Network. 

Network  introduced me to their journalistic partners and clients, agencies, international magazines, NGO’s and companies. I was helped by the agency staff and inspired by the agencies great photojournalists and photographers. 

Through the encouragement of Jack Picone and the support of Neil Burgess, Dale Eru and the photographer members we started a Network office in Sydney in 1999, it contiued till 2005.

These days in the inner suburbs of Sydney. I am assigned by Australian and sometimes international magazines, NGO’s, organisations and businesses. Telling a story in photographs is still my passion and now I have added motion through video to my portfolio.

The bigest formal recognition for my photography came from The World Press Photo Awards in the years 2001 and 1999 with two 1st prize awards in the Science and Technology stories category. Both stories were on the blindness prevention, one in tibet and the other corneal donation.

At the 2003 World Press Photo Awards my photograph of Kangaroos running during the 2002 drought received third prize in the Nature and the Environment category.

My biggest professional contribution in photography has been in  international blindness prevention stories and it’s solutions. I have had a twenty five year history with the Australian based now international The Fred Hollows Foundation since it’s inception in 1992. 

My photography in Eritea, Vietnam and Nepal were featured in the book “Seeing is Believing” a visual biography of the work and influence of the eye specialist and humanitarian Professor Fred Hollows.

Starting in 2011 until now I have worked directly with The Fred Hollows Foundation in photographs for it’s appeal and advertising campaigns and sometimes it is supplimented with video.

Since meeting Nepalese visionary eye doctor Sanduk Ruit in 1992 with Fred Hollows I have had a ongoing friendship making stories of his work in Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, Indonesia, Myanmar and North Korea. Over the years these stories published in international magazines and now news websites.

One of my favourite photographic experiences is making a Kashgar Series which appeared in the WITNESS"2002-2005 group exhibition at the Australian Centre of Photography.

The State  Library of NSW has purchased work I have made in Australia for its photographic archives and three of the images are contained in the NSW State Library's 2005 release of "An Eye for Photography" The Camera in Australia.

I was one of four founding members of REPORTAGE photography festival that started in Sydney in 1999 which became an outlet for previously unpublished photojournalism in Australia.

As the photographers representitive on The Walkely Foundation board from 2016 through to 2018 I advised on all maters photographic. The role advises on and involves judging Australia’s highest journalistic achievements for the year through the annual Walkey Awards. 

As much as a lot of my early photojournalistic work was processing black and white film and printing it’s negitives, today I love catching up on the ever changing world of digital photography. I always look forward to the next photographic challenge, stills or video.

Regardless of anything, every morning I brew myself an Indian cardomon spiced chai tea and when I am not photographing or fussing away on my computer I love to to throw myself in the ocean and hang out with my wife and two young daughters. 

Please link below with me on these social media sites for an update on my photography.

Professional Website www.michaelamendolia.com

Instagram www.instagram.com/michaelamendolia/

Linkedin www.linkedin.com/in/michaelamendolia/

Twitter https://twitter.com/amendoliaimages

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/michaelamendolia/