Now, in 2019, Canberra photographer Eunie Kim has recreated the image as a comment on climate change and taken out the United Nations internship at the annual CIT and UN Information Centre Photography Competition.

"Climate change is one of the most important topics I can think of. I took this photo just a few weeks ago, and now the bushfire season is a major issue," she says.

"With more awareness about how the world is changing the more support can be gathered for making changes that are better for our environment. A good photograph or artwork can leave an impact on a person for a lifetime.

"Not everybody engages in politics or wants to read scientific data about temperature averages - art and photography can be another way of reaching people, sparking their imagination, and get them thinking about significant social issues and how they can contribute, even in very small ways."

Kim spent weeks thinking of a concept that fit the competition's theme of climate change. While at first she thought of photographing drought or bushfires, the "problem was that these events are unpredictable [and] dangerous".

It was when she came across images from other photographers using the concept of cracked earth for climate change that her image started coming together.

"As a South Korean who moved to Australia just three years ago, I'm actively interested in the subject of 'Australia' and I wanted my image to reflect this," Kim says.

"When I first showed an interest in photography my husband introduced me to the work of a few Australian photographers, including Max Dupain. The moment I thought of the Sunbaker it felt like the perfect reference."

The hardest part was finding the right location but after searching a few locations Kim eventually found a dried pond at Woden's Edison Park, which provided the cracked earth for the image.

Her husband, Jame Bolto, donned some fake tan and modeled for the photo. However, the end result had to be a composite image, with Bolto's photo taken at a "random pile of dirt" in Weston and combined with photos of Edison Park pond.

"My husband had to lie face down and shirtless in the dirt while I gave him instructions to twist his head more, drop his shoulders, and rest his fingers the right way," Kim says.

"The dried-up pond smelled and was littered with droppings from the resident ducks. He started getting sunburnt almost immediately. At one spot he was lying on pebbles and stones and had ants crawling over his body. Fortunately, we both have a sense of humour."