The ‘Black Summer’ bushfire season of 2019-20 in Australia was catastrophic. There were many deaths, thousands of houses and vast areas of bushland were destroyed and huge losses of wildlife. The thick clouds of smoke, which blanketed the country for weeks, often cast an orange glow as the sunlight struggled to penetrate.

This scene is from a recently burnt forest in Southern New South Wales, with fires still burning not far away. There was an eerie feeling with the orange glow, smoke haze and flat light. I have used intentional camera movement to accentuate that feel and create an abstraction that speaks of the fires more generally. The bright orange colour of the Spotted Gum trees evokes the flames and the blackened trunks the destruction from the fires.

Bateman’s Bay, New South Wales, Australia

29 January 2020