Rising stars from Yorkshire honoured at the RSPCA Young Photographer Awards

Two young photographers from Yorkshire have shown creative flair to be recognised among the best in Britain.

A 10-year-old boy from East Yorkshire has received an accolade at the RSPCA Young Photographer Awards, for a superb photograph of a baby squirrel, which he took in his back garden. Hugo Napier took a picture of the orphan squirrel being fed milk through a syringe and submitted it to the annual national competition for under 18s, which this year attracted more than 4,000 entries.

The photograph was declared runner-up in the Under 12 Mobile Phone and Devices category at a prize-giving ceremony at the Tower of London, which was presided over by TV presenter and wildlife expert Chris Packham.

Hugo, a Year 6 pupil at Terrington Hall School, near Malton, said: “It was amazing meeting Chris Packham and brilliant to see all the amazing photographs in the competition. It was really special that it was held at the Tower of London.”

He added: “I took the photograph after I was outside playing in my back garden when I saw three tiny baby squirrels all huddled together in the base of a beech tree. We got some milk from our local vet and syringe fed them until they were old enough. It was such an amazing experience to raise these orphaned squirrels and I will always have this photo to remind me of what a beautiful adventure I had with them.”

Other prize winners included Lily Logan, from Beverley, East Yorkshire, who was a runner up in the 12-15 mobile category with her portrait of Angus the cat.

A wintry image of a shy mountain hare at sunset won the top prize in this year’s contest. The photo taken by 17-year-old Ben Harrott, from Oldham, Greater Manchester, was singled out from thousands of entries to claim the title in the annual competition.

The judges said they chose the shot because they were impressed by Ben’s ability to capture this rare encounter with such a shy animal as well as the “bravery of the near abstract composition”.

Every year, the animal charity invites youngsters aged 18 years and under to capture the animal kingdom on a camera or a mobile device.

As well as being named this year’s overall winner at a ceremony held at the Tower of London, the hare photo won the 16 to 18 age group category.

Ben said: “I’m so happy that the judges liked my photo of a mountain hare so much. Winter at my local moorland is often cold and this particular day was freezing. The winter sun was out which didn’t help at all and after walking for hours I finally spotted this mountain hare. After an hour of steady approach, I was the closest I’ve ever been to a mountain hare. The sun was setting and the mountain hare was fully relaxed in my presence, so I was able to photograph this individual up close as the sun was going down.”

It is the second year Ben has won an award, having claimed runner up in the Portfolio category in 2021 for his series of fantastic images of red foxes.