Michael Rayner (photographer)

Michael Rayner (born 1951) is an Australian press photographer and photojournalist.

Biography

Michael Rayner was born in Melbourne in 1951. After his secondary education, Rayner was offered a cadetship with The Age in 1968,[1] and for the newspaper covered news such as the Franklin River blockade.[2] In 1980 he gained a second place in the Nikon Awards,[3] the following year winning its Best Sports Photograph of the Year for his graphic and comical capture of North Melbourne footballer David Dench's effective smothering of a kick by South Melbourne's John Roberts, and a second prize for 'Sports' in the 1981 Rothmans National Press Photo of the Year,[4] and merit awards for his news and sports images in the Press Photographer of the Year Awards of 1982.[5] Even his earlier editorial photographs provoked an emotional response,[6][7] and one occasion he found himself caught up in criminal investigations of corruption in municipal council elections.[8]

From 1983 to 1999 his remit covered all of the Fairfax-owned media. He meanwhile directed 'Impressions Photography' from a shopfront in North Melbourne with partner the press photographer Tony Feder for four years from 1983 for around two hundred clients including Time magazine and The Telegraph in London,[9] then briefly worked freelance on his own 1987- 1988.

Rayner was employed on The Sydney Morning Herald during 1988-1991, on one assignment photographing socialite Susan Renouf in a women's refuge,[10] before once again freelancing 1991-1994. He rejoined The Age in 1994, covering such disparate stories as a 'boot camp' on the Snowy River for troubled teenage girls,[11] rehearsals of the musical A Chorus Line.[12] the repurposing of Melbourne's notorious Pentridge jail as apartments,[13] and the opposite sides in the battle over logging in old growth forests.[14] He remained with Fairfax until 1999, moving after a period of teaching, to The Weekly Review in April 2015 until late 2017, concurrent with freelance assignments for The Daily Telegraph UK, Sports Illustrated USA, and The Observer UK.

Mentor and educator

Rayner served as a judge on The Age/Nikon school photography competition.[15] From 1999 his professional experience in photography enabled a change of direction and an opportunity to mentor others in his role as manager of Feral Fine Art Gallery & Cafe (1999–2004) in rural Forrest, alongside his teaching in the medium at Photography Studies College (1999-2008) and Mallacoota ACFE (2008–2011).

Portraitist

Rayner's portraits, one of which, alongside his sports photograph, was awarded a first in the 1980,[16][17] and a second in the 1982[18] and 1984[19] Rothmans Press Awards, include Mel Gibson, Bob Hawke when he resigned from the ACTU and launched his Federal election campaign,[20] Eddie McGuire, Paul Keating,[21] Jean Bedford,[22] Kate Langbroek, Steven Berkoff, Tony Greig[23] Guy Pearce, David Gulpilil, Peter Carey, Hugo Weaving, Rachel Griffiths, Gerard Depardieu, Andrea Stretton[24] and Adam Elliot, though not all such assignments went smoothly; Mushroom Records was reported as having treated Rayner 'aggressively' when he attempted to photograph singer Jimmy Barnes in 'casual clothes'. The resulting images were run by The Age regardless, with useful publicity for Barnes.[25]

Books

Aside from numbers of publications in which his photographs are illustrations, Rayner has published;

  • Ticket to Ride,[26] the Australian continent photographed on train journeys with text by Anthony Dennis;[27][28][29][30][31][32]
  • Caribbean Odyssey showing cricket culture in the West Indies;[33][34]
  • Contact Renewed; Australia versus the new South Africa; on Test cricket after apartheid.[35]
  • Sydney since the Opera House: an architectural walking guide[36]
  • Morecroft, Richard; Sweeney, Paul; Rayner, Michael, 1951-; Morecroft, Richard (1991), Raising Archie : the story of Richard Morecroft and his flying fox, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 978-0-7318-0254-8CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

Collections
  • National Library of Australia[37]
  • State Library of Victoria[38]

References
  1. Whelan, Kathleen (2014), Photography of the Age : newspaper photography in Australia, from glass plate negatives to digital, Brolga Publishing, ISBN 978-1-922175-66-3
  2. Rosslyn Beeby, 'Creative tactics introduce dull note to blockade', The Age, 5 Jan 1983, p. 5.
  3. The Sydney Morning Herald, 5 Dec 1980, p. 8.
  4. The Age, 7 Mar 1981, p. 3.
  5. 'Photography prizes', The Age, 16 Nov 1982, p. 3.
  6. 'Luckless, helpless, and nearly friendless', The Age , August 17, 1973, p. 5.
  7. Barbara Hooks, 'Car crash children need funds urgently', The Age, 5 Aug 1975, p. 10.
  8. 'Witness says he saw newspapers removed', The Age, 16 Sep 1981, p. 14.
  9. 'Press photographers cover the media gap', The Age, 17 Dec 1986, p. 27.
  10. Nikki Barrowclough, "Lady Bountiful", The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 Mar 1990
  11. Sue Neales, "Going with the flow", The Age, 29 Dec 1994, p. 55.
  12. Megan Backhouse, "Life on the line", The Age, 21 Jan 1994, p. 29.
  13. David M. Walker, "Her Majesty's apartments, Pentridge", The Age, 16 Jan 1997, p. 25.
  14. Geoff Stong, "Trouble in paradise, The Age, February 6, 1999
  15. "Curse that brought victory, The Age, 18 Jun 1996, p. 58.
  16. 'Three snap awards', The Age, 9 Feb 1980, p. 16.
  17. 'The snake bite had a happy ending' The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 Feb 1980, p. 3.
  18. 'Pictorial prize to Age man', The Age, 6 Feb 1982, p. 3.
  19. Louise Carbines, 'Age photographer scoops pool wit Cash shots', The Age, 3 Mar 1984, p. 3.
  20. The Age, 1 Jan 1981, p. 7.
  21. 'It's not just his popularity that's thinning', The Age, 2 Feb 1992, p. 16.
  22. Fiona Capp, "Romantics on the road", The Age, 6 Nov 1993, p. 170.
  23. The Age, 14 Feb 1975, p. 24.
  24. Brian Courtis, 'Alchemy and the arts', The Age, 8 Apr 1999, p. 62.
  25. Larry Shwartz, 'Selling the soul of Jimmy Barnes', The Age, 10 Nov 1991, p. 22.
  26. Dennis, Anthony, 1963- (1989). Ticket to ride : a rail journey around Australia. Rayner, Michael, 1951-. New York: Prentice Hall Press. ISBN 0-13-921198-5. OCLC 21558073.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  27. 'A rail chance to travel', The Sydney Morning Herald, 29 Dec 1988, p. 11.
  28. The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 27, 1990, p. 128.
  29. The Times (Louisiana), May 27, 1990, p. 108.
  30. Journal and Courier, Lafayette, Indiana, May 27, 1990, p. 46.
  31. Florida Today, June 3, 1990, p. 53.
  32. The Orlando Sentinel, July 8, 1990, p. 130.
  33. Coward, Mike. (1991). Caribbean odyssey : Australia and cricket in the West Indies. Rayner, Michael. Sydney: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7318-0232-2. OCLC 30510913.
  34. Mark Ray, 'Remarks set to ruffle feathers: Caribbean exposed', The Age, p. 51.
  35. Coward, Mike. (1994). Australia vs the new South Africa : cricket contact renewed. East Roseville, N.S.W.: Simon & Schuster Australia. ISBN 0-7318-0436-8. OCLC 38356771.
  36. Rayner, Michael; Graus, Philip (1990). Sydney since the Opera House: an architectural walking guide. [Sydney?], New South Wales. ISBN 1-86318-011-7. OCLC 26827068.
  37. Rayner, Michael; Age (Melbourne, Vic.); John Fairfax & Sons (1983), [Bob Hawke, 1983], retrieved 30 December 2020
  38. Rayner, M., & Sunday Observer. (1988). Tracey Curro / Michael Rayner.
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