Grant Hunt, Death of Country (DOCO 2021)

As climate change changes the face country, periods of prolonged drought ravage delicate eco systems, causing searing temperatures, epic dust storms and the all too frequent bushfires which seem to dominate news cycles every summer. This series of images were taken across two separate visits to Central Australia in May and September 2019. They focus on a working cattle station called Kings Creek Station, although the aerials were more accurately taken over the neighbouring Tempe Downs Station. Both are some 330 km from the nearest town, Alice Springs. The images hope to show the harshness of life in the bush - especially when its so dry. Feral camels and horses roam the open plains in search of non-existent water (there were as many dead carcasses scattered around as there were live animals) and humans take shelter from the heat of the day wherever they can find it.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.