The best black and white photography: 2023 Mono awards – in pictures

Dedicated to the art of monochrome and black-and-white photography in Australia and New Zealand, the annual awards celebrate the very best in three categories: people, place and animals

Main image: Winner, People category: Bubble fun
When I captured this shot I was living in Spain in the coastal town of Sitges. I would often walk along the beachfront promenade late in the afternoon with my camera. Photograph: Tebani Slade

Sat 16 Sep 2023 00.00 EDT

  • Winner, Animals category: Now you see me

    This photograph was taken in Jawai in Rajasthan. Jawai is famous for its leopards who live in peaceful co-existence with the local shepherds, the Rabari.

  • Runner-Up, People category: Gomeroi elder

    This image of Gomeroi elder, leader and activist Maria Polly Cutmore was taken at the back door of her house. She was standing just inside and the light was soft and natural. I remember thinking her hair looked a bit like Marilyn Monroe’s or a 50’s beauty queen. Her beautiful dark skin contrasted exquisitely with her fine, light hair.

  • Runner-Up, Places category: Sunset silhouettes at Noosa Main Beach

    Approaching the Main Beach at Noosa late one afternoon, I was inspired by the filtered light streaming through the pandanus trees and by the light sea mist forming over the beach that helped create a layered, back-lit visual snapshot of Australian beach life.

  • Third, People category: Ninety

  • Fourth, Animals category: Catch of the day

  • Runner-Up, Animals category: Tails of the sea

    This image was taken on a whale watching boat on the Gold Coast during a heat run. This is when males fight for the attention of a female. Here, two males were continuously breaching on top of each other. This shot was captured just after the first whale had breached.

  • Fifth, People category: Owen Wright ‘Swell’

    Owen Wright is a professional surfer. In 2015, he suffered a traumatic brain injury after a wipeout at the notorious Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii. In 2017, after much hard work and determination, Owen returned to the water to not only surf again but to win his comeback event.

  • Fourth, Places category: Centre pivot

    A line of centre-pivot irrigation sprinklers creates patterns on the ground as it moves across a paddock in Western NSW.

  • Fifth, Places category: Fireworks watchers

    While taking photos of New Year’s Eve fireworks, Sydney-based photographer Terry Daley was drawn to the small figures watching the display from nearby buildings.

  • Fourth, People category: Aunt Betty

    Artist and passionate sportswoman Aunt Betty was a strong advocate and speaker for the 1967 referendum regarding Indigenous Australians. This portrait was created through a developed process using handcrafted dyes from eucalyptus bark, then dyeing cotton rag paper. Once dried, the paper was coated with an Ilford Creative Emulsion. This process was developed to connect the portrait back to Country as a way of respecting Indigenous culture and relationship to Country.

  • Third, Animals category: Nature’s prey

  • Third, Places category: Light and dark

  • Winner, Places category: Holding

    This shot was taken during a sunrise shoot in a strip of remnant bushland amongst farming properties just east of Geraldton in Western Australia. This area is full of grass trees (Xanthorrhoea spp), one of my favourite subjects to photograph.

  • Fifth, Animals category: Depth perception

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