Daniel Hartley-Allen

Darwin, Australia 2011

Daniel Hartley-Allen (b.1986, Australia) began his career in 2009 working as a photographic assistant in the United Arab Emirates for Etihad and General Motors. He completed a newspaper internship in 2010 and has since shot assignments for Getty Images, Australian Associated Press, The Times (London) and News Ltd Publications. This year he was a finalist for the Walkley Young Australian Journalist of the Year Award. His work has been published in: The Guardian, USA Today, Chicago Tribune and India Times among others. Daniel is based in Darwin, Australia.

About the Photograph:

“Fred Walker , a former champion boxer and WWII veteran now sits on his own, staring blankly at the bed where his wife Phyllis slept before she was taken into compulsory government care. Roaming through his hushed home in Darwin, Australia. Mr Walker said: “She had committed no crime but she has been locked away and forbidden to go home.”  It’s a story of love and loss often seen in an ageing population – elderly people separated from the ones they love because aged care services are concerned for their welfare. Phyllis was taken to Hospital after she suffered a fall in October, 2011. She remained on a secure ward for several weeks before an Aged Care Assessment Team determined Mr Walker was unfit in his capacity to care for her and was transferred to a nursing home. The health department said nobody was kept in a hospital if they didn’t need to be and, in Ms Walker’s case, “the notion of keeping her there against her will was not a factor.”