As Albanese and Dutton crisscrossed the country aiming to win over voters, ABC photographers were there to capture the best images of the campaign.
Over 35 days, politicians have donned hi-vis, sizzled sausages, shaken hands, and cuddled babies. All in the name of winning tomorrow's federal election.
For the party leaders, their media managers and the journalists accompanying them on the campaign trail, the days are long, the schedule is relentless, and the stakes are high. For the photographers, a large media scrum means muscling into the best position to take the winning image.
"[The crowd] makes it very, very difficult to navigate and to look for what we call gold — a gold moment," ABC Chief Photographer Brendan Esposito says. Gold, according to the veteran photographer, is a moment of "authenticity" when "the character of the person" shines through.
But authentic moments can be hard to find. "[The leaders] are all smooth, they're really guarded now, and they are polished in their performance, and everything is down to clockwork," Esposito says.
Early in the campaign, Peter Dutton visited the Assyrian New Year festivities at Fairfield in Western Sydney. "He started to dance with a guy, and it was just a little jig," Esposito says. "It wasn't anything fancy, but it was something that showed this guy, actually he does have humour. There is a lighter side to Peter."
It was a good moment because Peter doesn't give much away, Esposito says. "My observations with him is that I think he's quite a shy man."
Labor's Chris Bowen was at the same event and he and Dutton met unexpectedly. "Bowen's face said it all. He was visibly uncomfortable," Esposito says.
Despite careful choreography from media advisors and advancers, who arrive at a location ahead of time scouting for potential surprises and unwanted signs — the iconic 2015 image of a beaming Tony Abbott snapped in front of giant yellow letters saying "The Reject" springs to mind — on the campaign trail, sometimes the unexpected happens.
There was the moment the prime minister fell off a stage in Cessnock, in NSW, which became a Coalition attack point after Anthony Albanese initially said he hadn't fallen. Then there was the stray football Dutton kicked into the head of a camera operator.
“They like to have things heavily stage managed [but] it's exciting, you just never know what's going to happen,” says ABC photographer Adam Kennedy, who is covering his sixth federal election.
“You don't get this access to the PM and the opposition leader out and about doing things throughout the normal political cycle. They'll go do a press conference here and there, but it's nothing like this.”
A photo can be powerful, it “can turn an election”, ABC photographer Ian Cutmore believes.
This campaign, there have been a lot of protesters, he says. Early on a Rising Tide climate protester is shown shouting at Albanese, while on Tuesday, Dutton’s plans went awry when anti-nuclear union protesters crashed a press conference in the marginal NSW seat of Gilmore – Dutton was whisked away by his minders and did not speak at the event.
“It does give you an idea of how fraught campaigning can be when these unexpected moments happen,” ABC reporter Pablo Viñales said live on air at the time.
The role of the photographer on the campaign trail is to "capture the event as well as capturing the person and who they are, to try to show the public what they're like," Cutmore says.
Finding ways to illustrate what journalists are talking about can mean looking for the little things — a gesture or an expression.
"Albo's got more facial expressions, but Dutton, he's got his head, which is a bit of a character you can just have a bit of fun with," Kennedy says.
Cutmore agrees. "It's easier with Albanese because he's usually a bit more dynamic and expressive so he's always got interesting facial expressions and body language and hand gestures but Dutton is a lot harder," he says.
The obligatory photo ops of politicians with babies and children have been plentiful.
For Kennedy, this image of Albanese meeting three girls in outer Melbourne is his favourite. The girls lived next door to a family Albanese was meeting with, Kennedy says, and they simply ambushed the PM as he was leaving the event.
"There's a girl with her fingers intertwined like Monty Burns, watching. And then there's this tiny little girl staring up at the prime minister. She's got no fear…. The middle [girl] who's just sort of happy there in front of all these cameras."
For Cutmore, capturing Dutton having fun playing two-up at an RSL in Townsville on Anzac Day is one of his favourites. "He was talking to all the people in the room. He was just a lot more relaxed and casual."
It can feel ridiculous when 30 members of the media are crowded into a cafe as a politician has a conversation with a family about the cost of living, Matt Roberts says. "You take a step back and realise how silly and set up a lot of these things are but …that's part of Australian political history, we've been doing this [campaign style] a long time and in a weird way it's sort of unique and charming."
Credits
Photography by: Ian Cutmore, , Adam Kennedy and Matt Roberts
Words and production:
