About Dani Watson
So, What’s My Story?
Where did it all begin? Maybe you didn’t ask—but if we’re going to work together, let’s start with the truth.
For over two decades, I lived a fast-paced life in professional sport—as a tennis coach, biomechanics specialist, and sports science educator. I travelled constantly, working with elite athletes, analysing every movement, chasing perfection. From the outside, it looked like success. But I was running on empty. I’d helped so many others find their flow, yet mine had quietly slipped away.
One afternoon, I walked into Michael’s Camera Store in Melbourne and bought a DSLR. No big dream—just a quiet craving for creativity. I signed up for a free class, came home, and photographed my 8-week-old kelpie pup. I posted the photos online, and unexpectedly, they went viral—featured in the Herald Weekly Times. That spark turned into something real.
I enrolled in every course I could find. I joined a landscape tour along the Great Ocean Road. I began rising before dawn to stand in rivers, barefoot and freezing, chasing light I didn’t yet know how to capture. But I felt something shift. I was alive again.
Then, in a moment of serendipity, I met Ken Duncan. I broke all the unspoken rules and showed him my images on a phone (I now live by his words: “A photograph isn’t a photograph until it’s printed”). That brief conversation gave me the courage to walk away from the courts and toward a new life behind the lens.
From Centre Court to Silent Mornings
When I commit, I go all in.
I earned a qualification in Photography and Photo Imaging at RMIT University, then completed a Master of Arts Photography at Photography Studies College—Australia’s leading photographic institution. I spent years refining my craft, making mistakes, experimenting, and learning from some of the finest mentors in the industry.
Today, I work as a full-time fine art photographer, creating limited edition photographic prints inspired by the wild, raw, and sacred landscapes of Australia and beyond. My work is grounded in stillness—those fleeting seconds where light, land, and feeling align.
Whether it’s capturing the delicate stillness of a rainforest, the vastness of the outback, or the chaos of a coastal storm—I aim to create art that evokes presence. Art that invites you in.
Life Now? Less Noise. More Meaning.
These days, you’ll find me out in the field before sunrise, camera in hand, boots muddied, chasing something honest. I run Dani Watson Gallery, where my work lives in homes, galleries, and collector spaces across the globe. I also teach through CapturEDU, mentoring photographers who want to break through creative blocks and tell their own visual stories.
You’ll still see me at the Australian Open every year (I’ve clocked 27 straight), but I’ve swapped courtside drama for quiet evenings, curled up with my camera roll and my two cats. Somehow, their quiet company says more than words ever could.
So, What’s Your Story?
If any part of this feels familiar, then we already understand each other.
Whether you’re here to bring a little wild beauty into your home, or you're a photographer ready to explore what’s possible—I’m glad you’ve found your way here. Have a look around. Feel something. And if you do, reach out.
Because life’s too short for surface-level stories.
-
Solo Exhibitions
2024 – Melbourne, Australia | Connection – Captured Gallery
Group Exhibitions
2024 – Sydney, Australia | Splash Exhibition – M2 Gallery
2024 – Melbourne, Australia | Emerging Artist Award – Forty Five Downstairs Gallery
2024 – Melbourne, Australia | Hillvale Photo Trophy Group Exhibition
2024 – Melbourne, Australia | Bacchus Marsh Art Fair – Acquisition Prize
2022 – Sydney, Australia | In Focus Women Group Landscape Exhibition
2019 – Melbourne, Australia | Bacchus Marsh Art Fair
2018 – Melbourne, Australia | Bacchus Marsh Art Fair
2018 – Melbourne, Australia | RMIT Photography & Digital Imaging Graduate Group Exhibition
-
Commonwealth Bank Collection
Bendigo Bank Collection -
2024 Highlights
Honourable Mention – Emerging Artist Award, Forty Five Downstairs Gallery
4th Place Finalist – Landscape Category, Australian Landscape Awards
People's Choice Runner-Up – Australian Landscape Awards
Top 10 Finalist – Aerial Category, Australian Landscape Awards
Top 30 Finalist – Aerial Category, Australian Landscape Awards
Top 30 Finalist – Urban Category, Australian Landscape Awards
Top 40 Finalist – Seascape Category, Australian Landscape Awards
Top 50 Finalist – Aerial Category (two placements), Australian Landscape Awards
Top 60 Finalist – Aerial Category (two placements), Australian Landscape Awards
Top 100 Finalist – Aerial Category, Australian Landscape Awards
2023 Highlights
Winner – Art Category, Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographer
Runner-Up – Architecture Category, Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographer
3rd Place Finalist – Landscape Category, Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographer
4th Place Finalist – Landscape Category, Australian Landscape Awards
Finalist – Photography, Bluethumb Art Prize
Top 10 Finalist – Landscape Category (9th and 10th Place), Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographer
Top 20 Finalist – Art Category, Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographer
Top 20 Finalist – Landscape Category, Capture Awards Landscape
Top 30 Finalist – B & W Category, Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographer
Top 40 Finalist – Landscape Category, Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographer
2022 Highlights
Runner-Up – Landscape Category, Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographer
Top 10 Finalist – Open Category (7th Place), Animal Category (7th Place), Art Category (8th Place), Single Shot Category (8th Place), Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographer
Top 20 Finalist – B & W Category (13th Place), Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographer
Top 50 Finalist – Single Shot Category, Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographer
-
12/2023 – Capture Magazine | Australasia's Top Emerging Photographers 2024 – Click Here
07/2023 – Southbank News | Emerging talent sets her sights on mastering photography – Click Here
06/2023 – Capture Magazine | Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographers 2023: Winners and runners-up announced – Click Here
06/2023 – Capture Magazine | The Landscape Awards People's Choice winner announced – Click Here
02/2023 – Australian Photography | 60 judges' tips to winning Australasia's Top Emerging Photographers 2023 – Click Here
02/2023 – Capture Magazine | Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographers 2023 – Featured entry – Click Here
01/2023 – Capture Magazine | Top Tips to Winning Australasia's Top Emerging Photographers 2023 (part 3) – Click Here
12/2022 – The Australian | Tripping the Light Fantastic – Click Here
12/2022 – Capture Magazine | Who made it into The Annual 2022? – Click Here
11/2022 – Capture Magazine | Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographers 2023 – Featured Portfolio – Click Here
11/2022 – Capture Magazine | Top Tips to Winning Australasia's Top Emerging Photographers 2023 (part 1) – Click Here
07/2022 – Capture Magazine | Australasia's Top Emerging Photographers 2022: Landscape, Runner-up – ClickHere
03/2022 – Nisi Filters Australia | Interview with photographer Dani Watson – Click Here
01/2021 – In Focus Women | In Focus Women In Profile - Danielle Watson – Click Here
11/2020 – Capture Magazine | Featured portfolio – Dani Watson – Australasia’s Top Emerging Photographers 2021– Click Here
07/2019 – Capture Magazine | Profile - Emerging Talent – Click Here
-
07/2023 – The Gallery Podcast | Episode 15: Creative Genius with Dani Watson – Listen Here
06/2022 – In Focus Women | Season 2 Episode 12 - Gender Bias & Discrimination with Dani Watson – Listen Here
02/2022 – Landscape Photography World | Ep 28 - Dani Watson – Listen Here
10/2021 – In Focus Women | Season 1 Episode 4 - Dani Watson – Listen Here
03/2019 – Project RawCast | Instafame, Working with Ken Duncan & Compositing with Dani Watson – Click Here
-
2024 Master of Arts Photography, Photography Studies College
2024 Certificate IV Training & Assessment, Pinnacle
2018 Diploma Photography and Digital Photo Imaging, RMIT University
2017 Certificate IV Photography and Digital Photo Imaging, RMIT University
2004 Bachelor Applied Science Human Movement and Sports Science, Federation University