Grant Hunt, The Miners (PORTRAIT 2023)

Lightning Ridge in outback NSW is the opal mining centre of the world. Salt of the earth characters work the mines day in, day out. Its hot and dirty work, but on the rare occasions that it rains and is too dangerous to work, the miners head for one of three bush pubs to have a few beers and tell some tall stories. These images captured in May 2022 with the approval of the characters; a delightful and funny bunch.

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