Brighton teen wins award in national photography competition

Sophie Richterová has topped the Instagram category of the 2019 RSPCA Young Photographer Awards.

She beat hundreds of entries with her image of a Svalbard reindeer, taken in Alkhornet, a mountain in Spitsbergen, Norway.

The category, new to the annual awards, challenged those aged 13 to 18 to upload animal photographs to their Instagram feeds. After a shortlisting process, a public vote was held to decide the winner.

Sophie said: “I’m very happy that so many people liked my photo.

“Svalbard reindeer do not have any natural predators in the Arctic and this young reindeer was feeding just a few metres away from us, taking no notice of our presence.”

The RSPCA Young Photographer Awards, open to those up to the age of 18, had 11 categories for 2019 and drew 6,595 entries. Judges included TV presenter Patrick Aryee, RSPCA vice-president Chris Packham and award-winning photographers Andrew Forsyth and Jules Cox.

Winners were announced at a ceremony hosted by Packham at the Tower of London yesterday (Wednesday, December 18).

He said: “I’ve been judging the RSPCA Young Photographer Awards since they started. It’s exciting to see it move with the times, particularly with new options this year such as the Instagram category.

“We’re also pleased that the mobile phone and devices category continues, because as no separate camera is required, this has really opened up the competition to almost anyone.”