Conflagrations

Nature, third prize stories

5/12/2002

After Australia's most prolonged drought on record, its bushland was at heightened risk of burning during the fire season. A combination of high temperatures and strong winds in the October to December summer months resulted in intense, fast-moving conflagrations. Some were started by arsonists. Huge fires on the land surrounding outer suburbs of Sydney, and later also the capital Canberra, destroyed property and homes. Rough terrain, thick bushland and eucalyptus forests often hampered fire-fighting operations.

Commissioned by: The Sydney Morning Herald

Location: Sydney, Australia

Photo Credit: Nick Moir

Moir’s passion is capturing the dramatic environmental phenomena of Australia, from its ragged lightning and dust storms and blackening bushfires to the devastating effects of climate change.

He received a World Press Photo award for coverage of the destructive 2002-03 bushfire season and Australian Press Photographer of the Year in 2002 for a series on Sydney’s severe weather.

Moir recently completed his photo essay, Last Day on Earth, a look at the massive storms of America’s Tornado Alley. In 2009, he was named International Environmental Photographer of the Year in the Changing Climates category, an annual prize of the University of Westminster, for his image Microburst and Dust Storm. Moir was winner of the South Australian Museum’s ANZANG Nature Photography competition for his evocative image of a bushfire bearing down on a town in south-east NSW which was also included in Prix Pictet’s Earth last year. Moir was recently commissioned by GEO to photograph storms in Australia’s tropical north.

He lives in Sydney and works for The Sydney Morning Herald. He is a founding member of Oculi.