Dave Sanderson, Flags High, Standards Low (DOCUMENTARY & STREET 2025)

A crowd marches forward waving Australian flags, their cause wrapped in calls for a “better” Australia. Yet the foreground tells a different story: a discarded alcohol can sits ignored on the pavement. Hundreds pass it by without thought, stepping over the waste as though it isn’t their problem. The image captures the hypocrisy with sharp clarity—people chanting for national pride while refusing the simplest act of civic responsibility. Even more striking is the suggestion of alcohol at such an event, as though nationalism requires intoxication to take root. The frame freezes this contradiction—flag-waving patriotism above, careless littering below—a powerful reminder that a nation’s character is revealed not in its slogans, but in its smallest, everyday choices.

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