RSPCA Young Photographer of the Year Awards 2007

Press Release: 

The winning image submitted by 10-year-old Alex Worthington.

A stunning picture of a chameleon has helped a 10-year-old scale the heights of photography success by winning the prestigious RSPCA Young Photographer Award 2007.

At a glitzy ceremony at the Natural History Museum today, Alex Worthington, from Lancaster, was presented with the Overall Winner award in the competition, sponsored by Olympus and printing company Warners Midlands, by Blue Peter vet Tricia Mundy.

Remarkably, Alex had a staggering four other pictures in the shortlist of photos for the competition, which receives thousands of entries. Last year, he was the winner of the Under 12 section.

This year, that honour was taken by Sophie Livsey, 11, from Grantham, with her fantastic picture of a frog in her garden. The 12-18 section was won by Megan McCubbin, 12, from Southampton, with a startling shot of two gannets grabbing fish. Megan has a great photographic pedigree, being the daughter of wildlife photographer and former Young Photographer Awards judge Chris Packham.

The Olympus Portfolio Prize was won by 17-year-old Matthew Burrard-Lucas from Sevenoaks, with five beautiful pictures of birds, from a proud chicken to a grooming swan. A new competition category this year, Pet Personalities, was won by Isabella Williams, 13, from Camden, London, and her picture of pet cat Baby Kitty in a flowerpot.

RSPCA Chief Photographer and competition judge Andrew Forsyth said: “Once again the quality of photographs we have seen is fantastic. It was a really tough decision to separate the winners, and the fact that such sophisticated images were taken by under 18s, with many of the winning shots coming from under 13 year olds, is both incredibly inspiring, and as a professional photographer, a little bit scary!”

Talking about his winning shot, Alex Worthington said: “For this picture I used all the zoom of the Olympus SP500. This let me get very close and it makes an unusual picture. I was able to take several pictures, but I think this one is the best because the chameleon is looking at me, the contrast of colours is good and your view is drawn to the eye.”

Andrew Forsyth commented: “The most striking thing about Alex's picture is that it conveys so much using so few elements. There is a harmony between colour, texture and composition that creates a beautifully balanced image. Despite, or perhaps because of, its simplicity Calmer Chameleon proves that Alex is a tremendously talented young photographer.”

Alex wins a photoshoot with the RSPCA, plus a top of the range Olympus camera. All the other winners also pick up fantastic Olympus digital cameras and RSPCA goodie bags.