The winning entry was from Anwen Whitehead, 15, who was announced at a ceremony at the Tower of London earlier this month – a special and historic event which also celebrates the RSPCA’s milestone anniversary.
Every year, the RSPCA Young Photographer Awards invites young people aged 18 years and under to capture the animal kingdom on a camera or a mobile device. This supports the RSPCA’s mission of inspiring everyone to create a better world for every animal.
The judges praised the emotion and composition of Anwen’s Puffin photograph ‘Daydreaming in the Chamomiles’, marvelling at how tough it is to photograph puffins and remarking on the beautiful, diffused background.
Winner Anwen said:
“It’s very surreal and amazing to have won. I think this will really encourage me to keep going and push to make this a career. I was amazed at being shortlisted as a finalist so to win makes me determined to keep going and keep improving. I’ve won a few local competitions but nothing on this scale!”
Having only started taking photographs as a serious hobby last year, Anwen explained that the puffin photo which was snapped on a long anticipated visit to Pembrokeshire’s famous Skomer Island was one of her favourite photographs.
Anwen explained that she can quite happily spend 10 hours in a bird hide, or out in a field in camouflage gear at sunrise to get the perfect photo.
She said: “That’s my happy place. It’s very relaxing to be out in nature and away from screens. It allows me to slow down a little bit. It can take a long time but it’s always worth it in the end and the buzz afterwards lasts all day or all week!
“I’ve always had a love of animals. We live in rural Wales so I’m surrounded by animals and nature. I think it’s really important to try and help protect nature through photography by showing both the magic and the fragility of nature to help make people realise how special nature really is. I see wildlife photography as a tool for conservation by helping to spread the word.”
Remarkably, a number of photos submitted by Anwen were recognised this year. As well as being overall winner, Anwen’s puffin photo also won the 12-15 category; while her red squirrel image ‘Sergeant Squirrel reporting for duty’ was commended in the same category.
Another red squirrel image ‘Peckish’ was commended in the 12-15 mobile category and her swallows image placed runner-up in the City Life section. Finally, her ‘Puffin Paradise’ collection came runner-up in the Portfolio category meaning Anwen had a whopping seven images shortlisted in the final.
All entries are judged entirely anonymously, and separately from one another, which makes Anwen’s multiple successes this year even more staggering.
To mark the charity’s 200th birthday, the RSPCA added two new categories – ‘Better World’ which imagines what a better world for animals looks like, and ‘City Life’ – which highlights how animals are all around us and shows how we can live harmoniously together.
Chris Packham, TV presenter, RSPCA President and supporter of the awards since its inception over 30 years ago, said:
“As ever, this is a wonderful portfolio of work. This competition always attracts very strong entries and my special congratulations goes to all the winners and of course, especially, to the overall winner.”
Chris, who couldn’t attend the ceremony in person but recorded a special video message for the winners, added:
“Photography is a great way of communicating your love for, your passion for, your fascination for, and your concern for animals. I think it’s really important that we use that as a tool at this particular time when a lot of animals are in trouble.
“Being able to use your imagination, creativity and ingenuity to come up with something personally unique and powerful is a very important tool.”
This year’s awards were judged by a panel of photography experts, including wildlife photographer Rachel Bigsby; former competition winner-turned-professional photographer Catriona Parfitt; professional wildlife photographer and photographic guide Ellie Rothnie; and RSPCA photographers Andrew Forsyth and Emma Jacobs. And for the first time this year – Fabian Rivers, known as the ‘Dready Vet’, an exotic animal and wildlife vet and RSPCA ambassador who appears on CBBC’s The Pets Factor.
Fabian said:
“It’s a great honour to be involved in the inspiring RSPCA Young Photographer Awards this year. The calibre of entries has been staggering. Anwen’s puffin image is technically great, it’s sharp and evokes such lovely emotions. There’s a real story behind it and it was a clear winner for me.”
[Lead image: RSPCA]
