Brook Ready is the runner up in the Portrait category of 2016 Australia's Top Emerging Photographers.

The runner up in the 2016 Australia's Top Emerging Photographers in the Documentary/Photojournalism category is Niki Boon.

The winner of 2016 Australia's Top Emerging Photographers in the Art category is Marea Reed.

The runner up in the 2016 Australia's Top Emerging Photographers in the Art category is Izzy Gramp.

The winner of the 2016 Australia's Top Photographers in the Architecture category is Gregory Evans.

The runner up in the 2016 Australia's Top Photographers in the Architecture category is Becky Strong.

Photography was supposed to be just a bit of creative fun in a journey towards academia, but for Christine Pobke, it eventually became her life.

For decades, legendary visual storyteller and co-founder of the photo agency, VII, Ed Kashi, has captured the experiences of the disenfranchised, voiceless and forgotten. In this feature, the spotlight is reversed, and he tells his tale.

Daniel Klaas’ love of photography began in childhood, and he still has fond memories of taking photos with a Polaroid SX-70 when he was around eight years old.

Marion Abada was drawn to photography in her mid-twenties during her travels around Europe and the Middle East. Abada says that she has always loved the creative path, although her path to photography has been a circuitous one.

From a young age, Melissa Cowan loved shooting pictures. “I was always the one at parties with disposable cameras, running around making sure to capture snaps of all my friends,” she says. “I think it just started from there.”

For over ten years, Jay Hynes was an art director at various advertising agencies in Melbourne. Wanting to learn more about photography to art direct on photo shoots, he studied at night for 18 months, and shot in his spare time.

Mieke Boynton, a landscape photographer from Broome, Western Australia has loved art her whole life.

“For a photographer, being able to connect with your subjects plays a big role in shooting and is just as important as knowing how to light,” says Melbourne-based photographer, Al Habjan.

For thirty years, Chris Rainier has worked to preserve languages, indigenous cultures and the knowledge held by elders in traditional societies.

Documentary photographer Ken Light is both an observer and a storyteller. He enters the worlds of his subjects and documents their realities to give us a momentary glimpse into their lives.