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Posted: 20th December 2024

RSPCA Young Photographer Awards winner announced
Anwen Whitehead won the award for her photograph of a puffin.
A photo of a puffin in Wales won the top prize.

A teenager from Wales has been named as the winner of this year’s RSPCA Young Photographer’s Award.

Anwen Whitehead, 15, won the accolade for her entry, ‘Daydreaming in the Chamomiles’. Her photograph depicted a puffin on Skomer Island in Pembrokeshire, West Wales.

The entry received praise from the competition judges, who commended the emotion and composition of Anwen’s entry. They remarked on how difficult photographing puffins is and complimented the diffused background.

Several of Anwen’s other entries, judged anonymously, were also recognised in a number of categories.

‘Daydreaming in the Chamomiles’ also won in the 12-15 category, where her red squirrel image 'Sergeant Squirrel reporting for duty’ was also commended.

‘Peckish’, another image of a red squirrel, was commended in the ‘12-15 mobile’ category and her swallows image was runner-up in the ‘City Life’ selection. Her ‘Puffin Paradise’ collection was also a runner-up in the portfolio category.

Anwen said: “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.”

The awards were judged by a panel of experts including wildlife photographer Rachel Bigsby, former competition winner Catriona Parfitt, wildlife photographer Ellie Rothner and RSPCA photographers Andrew Forsyth and Emma Jacobs. This year, the judges were joined by Fabian Rivers, also known as the ‘Dready Vet’, who treats exotic animals and wildlife as well as appearing on CBBC’s The Pets Factor.

Other winners included Jamie Smart, nine, who was the overall winner of last year’s competition. Jamie won in four categories this year, including ‘Under 12s’, ‘Pet Portraits’ and ‘Better Worlds’.

The winners were celebrated at a ceremony at the Tower of London on Thursday, 19 December. Although he was unable to attend the event, RSPCA president Chris Packham recorded a message for the winners.

Mr Packham said: “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.”

Image © Anwen Whitehead/RSPCA Young Photographer Awards



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