Neil Eliot 1955 - 2007

Click to view this Image
Neil Eliot
Click to view this Image
Neil Eliot's prize winning shot of the 'Kirki'. (Click on image to enlarge.)

According to his friend and colleague Len Findlay, Neil Eliot was ‘a photographer of the best school; the school that said "get the shot, get it in the paper and then answer the questions".’ When he became photographic manager of the West Australian, he encouraged his staff to have the same, ‘answer questions later’ attitude. This attitude served him well in the world of front-line press photography where there are no prizes for coming second.

As Findlay observed, Eliot ‘seldom came second and he did win the prizes’. In 1991 he was the Walkley Award and Press Photograph of the Year winner with his shot of the tanker Kirki as it broke up off the WA coast. How he came to get the series of shots was instructive of the type of photographer Neil Eliot was.

Channel 7 had heard of the impending disaster and got a helicopter ready. News outlets were offered a seat, obviously at a cost. As newspapers thought about it, Neil, who was freelancing at the time, jumped on board. His graphic pictures were reproduced across the globe. His success only served to enhance his reputation as a tenacious news photographer.

Neil John Eliot was born on May 12, 1955, the youngest of five boys born to Ronald, who worked at the East Perth power station, and Margaret. He followed Ian, Graham, Robert and Ken. He attended Scarborough Primary School, then Churchlands Senior High School where he loved sport and was a good cricketer.

But photography was what he loved best. He joined the West Australian as a cadet in 1972. His first job was to a fish and chip shop fire in the northern suburbs, and his career developed in an upward trajectory at that paper until 1978. After making a name as one of the best news photographers around, Eliot sought joined the Murdoch organisation, with the Sunday Times. He later went freelance and contributed to the Australian and the Melbourne Age.

As mentioned above, his coverage of the shipping disaster in 1991 was a highlight of his career. It was on 21 July 1991, that the Greek-owned tanker Kirki hit dreadful weather and started to break up 65km off Wedge Island, some 200km north of Perth. It spilled 20,000 tonnes of light crude oil and an environmental disaster was looming. The full drama of the situation was graphically brought home by Neil, whose tenacity and opportunism saw him on the spot.

In 1997 he returned to the West Australian as a senior photographer and in 1998 took over the photographic department. But chasing pictures, rather than organising others to do it, was his love and he moved back on the road. He left the West Australian in 2002 and had a spell with the Fairfax organisation, both in the eastern States and back in Perth.

A look at his portfolio shows dramatic pictures, like the one of Constable Sean Philander searching a suspected juvenile offender after the policeman had taken the youth from a bus. It shows his powerful picture of forensic police officer Ken Sanderson collecting evidence from the light plane crash that took the lives of four fellow officers. Then there was a 2001 shot of 10-year-old Caleb Knight shedding an understandable tear after laying a wreath on Police Remembrance Day. It was to honour his father, Stephen, killed in the line of duty.

Neil was diagnosed with cancer in 2006 and the fact that he survived for a year amazed medical staff. A pack a day smoker from a young age, he gave smoking up in his late thirties only to take the habit up again after eight years. He died on June 20th 2007 and, posthumously, became the face associated with the Anti-Cancer Council’s Quit smoking campaign. His son, Luke Eliot, went on to become a journalist working for the West Australian.

Sources: