A teenager from Wanstead in East London has been named runner-up in the Pet Personalities category of the RSPCA Young Photographer Awards 2024.

Iqra Abdul-Kahar from East London placed runner-up in the awards with a photo of her cat Aaya who had climbed inside a doll’s house and can be seen with her paw poking out of the window.

The prestigious RSPCA Young Photographer Awards invites young people aged 18 years and under to capture the animal kingdom on a camera or a mobile device and supports the RSPCA’s mission to inspire everyone to create a better world for every animal. The awards were announced at a ceremony held at the Tower of London today (Thursday 19 December 2024).

Iqra, 13, said: “I feel really happy and excited to have been shortlisted for the awards. I didn’t believe my photograph would be selected from the hundreds that probably entered, so I was over the moon when I found out.

“I have been interested in photography for about five years or maybe more. It all started from a photography competition that I saw in The Week Junior magazine which involved a Scavenger Hunt. Since then, whenever I am out with my family or on holiday, I love to take photographs of nature and animals because I absolutely adore animals and find them amazing. I like to capture these moments, which may be funny or strange.”

Iqra explained that her kitten Aaya loves to play hide and seek and explore all sorts of places around the house, from cardboard boxes, behind the sofa, in drawers and even in the doll’s house.

She added: “She is an extremely adorable cat. She is very playful and fun. She surprised me when she hid in the doll’s house though as I didn’t think she would be able to get through the door. She was about four or five months old when she squeezed in. Cats are definitely my favourite animals to photograph because they are cute and funny and they often get up to mischief!”

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, also known as Dready Vet, who’s an exotic animal and wildlife vet and RSPCA ambassador and appears on CBBC’s The Pets Factor.

Sponsors of the competition are Natures Images (wildlife photography holidays) and Camtraptions (camera traps for wildlife photography).

Anwen Whitehead, 15, also from Mid Wales, was the overall winner this year with her image of a Puffin entitled ‘Daydreaming in the chamomiles’.

Winners in each category were awarded trophies and a selection of prizes at the Tower of London ceremony and as the Overall Winner, Anwen Whitehead received a weekend photography break with Natures Images. This fabulous prize includes two nights’ accommodation for the winner and a parent/guardian.

Thomas’s image was ‘commended’ in the 16-18 category

A teenager from London has been ‘commended’ in the 16-18 category of the RSPCA Young Photographer Awards 2024 with a photo of a grebe feeding its young.

Thomas Durrant, 16, from Richmond-Upon-Thames, captured the image of a great crested grebe feeding its young on Pen Ponds in Richmond Park.

The photo was shortlisted in the RSPCA Young Photographer Awards which invites young people aged 18 years and under to capture the animal kingdom on a camera or a mobile device and supports the RSPCA’s mission to inspire everyone to create a better world for every animal. The awards were announced at a ceremony held at the Tower of London today (Thursday 19 December 2024).

Thomas said: “They were tucked into the bank so I approached carefully, camera in hand, and sat in mud at the water’s edge. I observed them for almost an hour but they were behind a small shrub. Then, just as the light was about to sink below the tree line, one of the adults appeared in front of me, fish in mouth, and the young surged towards it!”