The photography community is mourning the loss of Cathryn Tremain, a distinguished former photographer for The Age newspaper and Walkley Award winner, who passed away peacefully at her home on July 22 at the age of 66, surrounded by her loving family.
Tremain's remarkable career in photojournalism began in the early 1980s at The Border Mail in Albury-Wodonga, where she first honed her distinctive artistic vision. She later joined The Age, where she worked until the early 2000s, establishing herself as one of Australia's most respected newspaper photographers.
Her exceptional talent was formally recognized in 1994 when she won the prestigious Walkley Award for best feature photograph. The award-winning image, titled "Little Rays of Sunshine," captured a premature baby in the neonatal intensive care unit at the Royal Women's Hospital, demonstrating her ability to find beauty and humanity in the most delicate situations.
Chris Beck, a fellow former Age photographer, recalls being deeply inspired by Tremain's work during his time at Leader Newspapers in the 1980s. "There was a lot of very good, strong photographers around that time," Beck explained, "but Cathy was a particular one that I followed because she had a real beauty to her photographs."
Beck shared a touching story about how Tremain's generosity matched her artistic talent. After expressing his admiration for her work to a mutual friend at The Age, Tremain personally printed and signed a photograph for him, despite never having met him. "She didn't know who I was, but she printed out a photograph and sent it to me and signed it," Beck remembered.
When Beck eventually joined The Age himself, he had the opportunity to work closely with Tremain and witness her creative process firsthand. He described her as having an innate artistic ability that seemed effortless. "She was just instinctively artistic," he said. "I don't think she thought about how she was going to make something, she just knew instinctively how to take beautiful photographs."
What struck Beck most about Tremain was her humility regarding her exceptional skills. "She never really talked about it," he noted. "She never really discussed how she did it, why she did it, how great she was. She just did it." He characterized her as "an earthy, approachable yet tough character" whom he looked up to as "a bit of a photographic hero."
Wendy Tuohy, a senior writer at The Age who worked extensively with Tremain, fondly recalled the impact of being paired with such a talented photographer. "When you scored her on your job you knew you were likely to get a free ride to the front end of the paper, care of her gifted perspective and intuitive talent for composition," Tuohy said.
Tuohy described the contrast between Tremain's outward persona and the sensitivity revealed in her work. "She did have a seemingly tough exterior, and didn't waste words, but her pictorial art revealed her to be finely tuned to the small things that connect us," she explained. "She seemed impervious to sentiment, but her images were tender."
The writer praised Tremain's unique ability to see what others might miss. "Looking at her pictures, you wondered how she'd found these striking details in a scene where you may not have noticed anything out of the ordinary," Tuohy observed. "She made nothing of her skill and creativity, and her subjects seemed to understand she met them at eye level. She captured magic we'd otherwise have missed."
Jim Pavlidis, a longtime artist with The Age, echoed these sentiments about Tremain's deceptive exterior hiding a deeply sensitive artistic soul. "She appeared tough to outsiders – no bullshit – but she was an incredibly sensitive person. She took really beautiful, considered pictures," Pavlidis said. "Creatively she was incredible; she had a beautiful, really sensitive touch."
Fiona Lawrence, who also worked as an artist at The Age during the 1980s and 1990s, remembered how universally admired Tremain's work was among her colleagues. "What I remember about Cathy the most is, just apart from her very genuine and outgoing personality, was that everyone spoke about her work with such reverence," Lawrence said.
Lawrence described the collective appreciation for Tremain's artistry that was evident in the newsroom. "People would just sit with the weekend papers, and it would always be unanimous that her work contained something special," she recalled. "She had an ability to engage with everyone on a very personal level."
Tremain's photographic portfolio included a diverse range of subjects, from intimate hospital scenes to architectural photography, such as her striking image of the water wall at Melbourne's National Gallery of Victoria. Her 1999 series featuring aerospace engineer Bradley Macpherson was highly commended at the Walkley Awards, further cementing her reputation for excellence in photojournalism.
One of her notable works captured passengers waiting in a pebble-dash bus shelter near Camberwell Market in 1993, demonstrating her ability to find artistic merit in everyday urban scenes. She also photographed prominent political figures, including former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, showcasing her versatility across different photographic genres.
Tremain is survived by her mother Val, her brothers Peter and Paul, and several nieces and nephews. The family held a farewell service on Thursday at the Glenmorus Memorial Gardens Chapel near Albury, where approximately 70 family members and friends gathered to honor her memory.
Paul Tremain addressed the assembled mourners, sharing insights into his sister's character and early passion for photography. "Cathryn learned from an early age to be strong, resilient and fiercely independent," he said, as reported by The Border Mail. "She was taken with photography at a very young age."
Tremain's legacy extends far beyond her award-winning photographs. She represents a generation of newspaper photographers who combined technical excellence with genuine artistic vision, documenting Australian life with both sensitivity and strength. Her work continues to inspire photographers and journalists, serving as a testament to the power of visual storytelling to capture the human condition with grace and dignity.
Her colleagues remember her not just for her exceptional talent, but for her authenticity, generosity, and the quiet confidence with which she approached her craft. In an industry often marked by ego and self-promotion, Tremain stood out for her humility and her ability to let her work speak for itself.
The photography community has lost not just a skilled practitioner, but a true artist who understood that the best photographs reveal something essential about their subjects and, in doing so, about humanity itself. Cathryn Tremain's images will continue to serve as a masterclass in compassionate, intelligent photojournalism for generations to come.
