Dog Photography Awards unveils 2022 winners

The annual awards celebrate global talent in dog photography

Dog Photography Awards (DPA) is an annual open-to-all competition dedicated to dog-lovers. Entrants choose from four categories — Portrait & Landscape, Action, Studio and Dogs & People — with each awarding a €500 prize. The 2022 winners were Dalia Fichmann (“The Avalanche Rescue Dog”), Francesco Junior Mura (“She Is Bagheera”), Su Kaye (“Things Are Looking Up”) and Sabrina Theden (“Unconditional Love”), respectively.

To capture “The Avalanche Rescue Dog”, Fichmann had to bury herself beneath the snow and wait for searchdogs to find her — a daunting prospect, but worth it to get that winning image. Junior Mara took “She Is Bagheera” during an Italian agility competition; he spotlights the “dog’s muscles contracting and releasing energy” as she defeats the hurdle. Kaye shot the eye-catching “Things Are Looking Up” in her Radlett-based studio, where she also specialises in family portraits, headshots and commercial photography. Finally, Theden captured “Unconditional Love” at a railway museum using her Canon EOS R6.

This year’s competition received around 1,400 submissions from 50 countries. The criteria for a ‘winning image’ were the “dog’s body language”, camera “settings”, “composition”, “artistic choices” and “editing”. The 2022 jury consisted of six photographers, including DPA creator Audrey Bellot. 

Anyone can submit to the Dog Photography Awards, with entrants under 18 needing consent from a parent or guardian. Participants can submit to any combination of categories; it costs €15 per image, with an unlimited number of entries. Images depicting animal cruelty or otherwise deemed harmful to a dog’s well-being are not accepted.

To learn more about the winners, judges or rules of entry, visit dogphotographyawards.com.