Guardian Australia's picture editor, Carly Earl, has won the $10,000 top prize in the 2025 Australian Life photography competition. Her winning portrait captures 19-year-old drover Riley Swanson working in central Queensland, offering what judges described as 'a beautiful insight into reality of life in rural Australia'.
Earl, based in Sydney, took the photograph while covering a droving team south of Roma. In her artist statement, she noted that young drovers spend months on horseback moving cattle, facing isolation, injury risks and financial loss, with only a few enduring the harsh, romanticised life on remote stock routes.
The annual competition, run by the City of Sydney as part of its Art and About program, showcases amateur and professional photographers. Earl's image was selected from 30 finalists by judges Hank Paul, Milly Hooper and Matt Horspool, who praised her use of shadows, colour and composition.
Other winners included Callum Poling in the youth category for his black-and-white photograph 'February Boat Carnival', and Chloe Wiseman in the Little Sydney Lives category for her double-exposure portrait 'Home-made Mummy Double-Exposure'. Zoe Morris was runner-up with 'Sibling Love'.
The finalist exhibitions run until 24 August at Circular Quay and Customs House in Sydney.
