Hedda Murray, a pause (PLACES 2025)

Before heading into the darkness, she paused to capture a hopeful image of the view from the top of the spiral staircase. Splashes of intermittent, ever moving bright lights which randomly fell here and there were the only means of seeing anything in the space below. Corny, but this entire scene felt a bit like the passage of life itself. Sometimes dark, no clear view of what’s ahead; enigmatic shadows; trying to see the big picture while at the same time striving to freeze frame the smaller, bright spots in life. I took this shot while visiting the Tank. Once an underground WWII oil depot on Sydney Harbour, now remediated, housing modern art installations at the Art Gallery of NSW.

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