Suzanne Jones, Jokers Tunnel (LANDSCAPE 2026)

Jokers Tunnel near Yalgoo, Western Australia, is a mysterious 200 metre passage hand carved through solid rock by 1890s gold prospectors, named after the Joker mining syndicate and standing as a testament to the grit and hopeful daring of early outback miners. Today the eerie, weather worn tunnel threads through the hill beneath vast outback night skies, sheltering colonies of bats and revealing the rugged geology shaped by time and gold rush ambition. As Leo rises above the horizon, this once ambitious feat of engineering becomes an intriguing tourist destination where history, stone and starlight quietly converge in the heart of Yalgoo. To shoot this image I first captured the night sky using a star tracker from location 2 as the trees nearer the entrance obscured the sky. I then walked around to the northeastern entrance to photograph a series of light painted frames. Merged in Photoshop.

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