Australia’s best photos of the month – September 2022

Death of a monarch, rural shows and footy finals: Guardian Australia looks at the month in pictures

Main image: The Sydney Opera House is illuminated on 9 September after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Photograph: Mark Baker/AP

  • Patrick Dangerfield of the Cats celebrates with fans after winning the 2022 AFL grand final match between the Geelong Cats and the Sydney Swans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 24 September.
    Patrick Dangerfield of the Cats celebrates with fans after winning the 2022 AFL Grand Final match between the Geelong Cats and the Sydney Swans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on September 24, 2022 in Melbourne.

  • Friends help Aloria with final preparations at the Alexander Ball, a queer event celebrating the ballroom scene created by trans women of colour in 1950s Harlem. The event on 24 September was held at The Tivoli in Brisbane.
    Friends help Aloria with final preparation at the Alexander Ball an annual trans ball at the The Tivoli, in Brisbane.

  • Protesters smear red dye over an emblem at the British Consulate during an anti-monarchy protest in Melbourne on 22 September.
    Protesters smear red dye over an emblem at the British Consulate during an anti-monarchy protest in Melbourne, Australia, 22 September 2022.

  • Hundreds of long-finned pilot whales lie stranded on sandbanks and beaches inside Macquarie Harbour in Tasmania on 20 September in one of the worst whale strandings in history.
    This handout photo taken on September 20, and received on September 21 from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania shows the carcasses pilot whales beached on Macquarie Harbour, in Tasmania. - “A pod of approximately 230 whales has stranded,” said the state’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

  • Sam Elliott of Victoria bowls to D’Arcy Short of Western Australia during the Marsh One-Day Cup cricket match between Victoria and WA on 25 September in Melbourne.
    Sam Elliott of Victoria bowls to D’Arcy Short of Western Australia during the Marsh One Day Cup match between Victoria and Western Australia on September 25, 2022, in Melbourne.

  • Wind turbines are silhouetted on a hill at sunset near Collector in NSW.
    Wind turbines on a hill at sunset near Collector NSW.

  • Children take part in the tiny tots, junior showgirls and showboy competition at the 2022 Young Show in NSW on 18 September.
    The Tiny Tots, Junior Showgirls and Showboy competition at the 2022 Young Show in Young, NSW.

  • Rosemary Corbin prepares scones at the Gidgegannup Square Dance Club in Western Australia.
    Rosemary Corbin preparing the scones at the Gidgegannup Square Dance Club in West Australia.

  • A vigil is held at Sydney Town Hall on 25 September for Iranian woman Mahsa Amini. Protests have erupted in Iran and around the world after the 22-year-old died while in the custody of Iran’s morality police.
    A vigil is held at Sydney Town Hall on 25 September for Iranian woman Mahsa Amini. Protests have erupted in Iran and around the world after the 22-year-old died while in the custody of Iran’s morality police.

  • Will Shepherd, who has just finished his apprenticeship at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.
    Will Shepherd, who has just finished up his apprenticeship at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.

  • Fred Brophy (right) spruiks outside Fred Brophy’s Boxing Troupe before an event in Birdsville, Queensland on 2 September.
    Fred Brophy (right) spruiks outside of Fred Brophy’s Boxing Troupe before an event in Birdsville, Queensland on 2 September.

  • Margaret Spivey at home in the Blue Mountains, NSW. She is challenging the settlement she received for abuse suffered as a child in children’s homes in Victoria.
    Margaret Spivey at home in the Blue Mountains, NSW. She is challenging the settlement she received for abuse suffered as a child in children’s homes in Victoria.

  • Australian surfer Stephanie Gilmore reacts after finishing first in the Rip Curl WSL finals at Lower Trestles in California on 8 September.
    Stephanie Gilmore of Australia reacts after finishing first place in the Ripcurl WSL Finals at Lower Trestles on September 8th.

  • Ten-year-old Ben places flowers at the base of a statue of Queen Elizabeth II at Government House in Adelaide on 9 September.
    Ten-year-old Ben places flowers at the base of a statue of Queen Elizabeth II at Government House in Adelaide on 9 September.

  • Ian McClelland at the wheel of Dirty Olive. McClelland and his club companions ‘The Dirty Devils’ came from Adelaide to participate in the Lake Perkolilli Red Dust Revival car race in Western Australia from 19 to 25 September.
    Ian McClelland at the wheel of Dirty Olive. McClelland and his club companions ‘The Dirty Devils’ came from Adelaide to participate in the Lake Perkolilli Red Dust Revival car race in Western Australia from 19 to 25 September.

  • MP Fiona Patten, leader of the Victorian Reason party, at Parliament House in Melbourne.
    MP Fiona Patten, leader of the Victorian Reason party, at Parliament House in Melbourne.

  • A horse is hosed during the barrier trials at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney on 6 September.
    A horse is hosed during the barrier trials at Rosehill Gardens in Sydney on 6 September.

  • Robbie Williams performs during the AFL grand final match between the Geelong Cats and the Sydney Swans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 24 September.
    Robbie Williams performs during the AFL Grand Final match between the Geelong Cats and the Sydney Swans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, September 24.

  • Canola outside Harden-Murrumburrah on the south-western slopes of NSW as the crop comes into full bloom.
    Canola outside Harden-Murrumburrah on the south-western slopes of NSW as the crop come into full bloom.

  • Prime minister Anthony Albanese and finance minister Katy Gallagher watch opposition leader Peter Dutton lay a wreath at a statue of Queen Elizabeth II at Parliament House in Canberra on 10 September.
    Prime minister Anthony Albanese and finance minister Katy Gallagher watch opposition leader Peter Dutton lay a wreath at the statue of Queen Elizabeth II at Parliament House in Canberra on 10 September.

  • Actor, theatre critic and trans woman Suzy Wrong poses in Sydney on 21 September in a dress made of the national flags of the 71 countries where it is still illegal to be LGBTQIA+. The dress is over 3.5m in height and 16m in diameter. Sydney will host a major LGBTQIA+ human rights conference as part of Sydney WorldPride 2023.
    Actor, theatre critic and trans woman, Suzy Wrong poses in Sydney on 21 September in a dress art made of the national flags of the 71 countries where it is still illegal to be LGBTQIA+. The dress is over 3.5m in height and 16m in diameter. Sydney will host a major LGBTQIA+ human rights conference as part of Sydney WorldPride 2023.

  • Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel crosses the finish line to win the men’s road race cycling event at the UCI 2022 road world championship in Wollongong, NSW on 25 September.
    Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel crosses the finish line to win the men’s road race cycling event at the UCI 2022 road world championship in Wollongong, NSW on 25 September.

  • Pooky poses at the Waterloo social housing estate in Sydney. Photographer Joel Pratley, who lives in nearby Redfern, has spent the last couple of years documenting and exchanging stories with those who live in this unique part of the world.
    Waterloo is one of Sydney’s last social housing projects. Living in nearby Redfern, Joel Pratley has had countless days over the last couple of years documenting and exchanging stories in the streets and homes of this unique part of the world. Pooky
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