Brook Mitchell, Australian
Horses panic as a fire burns near Canberra, Australia, 2020
Sydney-based photographer Brook Mitchell’s images of the Australian bushfires and their aftermath illustrate the surreal visuals of a land ravaged by fire. The 2019-2020 fire season, thought to be exacerbated by climate change, was one of the most devastating in Australia’s history, destroying some 2,000 homes and killing about 30 people. The fires also claimed unnamed numbers of animal victims, both wild and farm animals like the horses fleeing flames at Tallabrook Lodge near Canberra. Besides calls for a better climate change response, Australian activists have expressed hopes for a return to aboriginal practices of controlled burns and fire prevention, which could provide a solution to future fire threats. Label by Sarah Roberts