Janice Terrill, Fragile Earth (LANDSCAPE 2024)

In this series of three photos, I use the night sky to highlight three perspectives of the Australian environment. The Milky Way has shone in the Earth’s night sky since long before humans evolved and will still be there long after we are gone. The first photo, SavingTheTurtles, shows actions that have been taken to increase the survival rate of turtle hatchlings. Streetlights fitted with orange bulbs means hatchlings are not attracted away from the ocean by bright white lights and they then have a better chance of reaching the Great Barrier Reef and growing to adulthood. In the second photo WaitingForDrought, the Milky Way illuminates a quickly-evaporating water hole as catastrophic drought looms. In the third photo, BushfireSmoke, smoke from nearby bushfires tints the moonlight emitted by the crescent moon.

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