A Swedish flower hen glowing purple and blue under studio light. A Cocker spaniel frozen mid-air like a Jedi.
A cat launching headfirst into a patch of daffodils. The photographers behind them are 17, 10 and 17 respectively.
None of them are old enough to vote, but the public can now vote for them.
The shortlist for the RSPCA Young Photographer People’s Choice Award has been revealed, with 15 images from photographers aged nine to 18 competing for the title of Britain’s favourite photo.
Voting opened on Tuesday and closes on 24 March, with the winner announced two days later.
The standouts
Amber Buchanan, 17, shot “Head up!”, a portrait of her hen Mocha bathed in surreal purple and blue light.
It looks more like an album cover than a poultry photograph. Jamie Smart, 10 and from Wales, caught a Cocker spaniel in full flight with “Jedi Jump”, a title the image earns without argument.
Anwen Whitehead, also 17 and from Wales, photographed her cat Emlyn in the act of diving into daffodils.
Ella Sharpe, 16, from Hertfordshire, caught her tabby Bijou delivering a perfectly timed wink.
Harry Hollingsworth, 13, from North Yorkshire, submitted “The world turned upside down”, a black-and-white shot of a cat throwing its head back that would not look out of place in a gallery.
Dogs, cats and one very patient hoverfly
The shortlist leans heavily on pets but the range within that is wide. Zoe Beales, 18, from West Sussex, captured a spaniel mid-splash in a puddle.
Gemma Hollingsworth, 18, from County Durham, submitted “The happiest husky”, featuring her dog Hunter looking exactly as advertised.
Alexander Wilkinson, 13, placed a Labrador against a Lake District backdrop. Kacper Stempka, 17, from Merseyside, went for a tight close-up of a dog’s face.
Nel Masters, 18, from Cambridgeshire, rounded out the canine entries with a mud-caked Cocker spaniel.
The youngest finalist, Katherine Nash-Warner from Norfolk, is nine. Her shot of a hoverfly resting on hydrangea got her onto a shortlist where everyone else is at least two years older.
Evie Watt, 11, from Aberdeenshire, photographed a dog studying its own reflection in a rockpool. Isaac Savage, 15, captured two gulls mid-screech on the historic Aberconwy House in Wales.
Iqra Abdul-Kahar, 15, from London, went for quiet composition: a cat on a windowsill. George Wild, 16, from Lancashire, submitted a cosy image of a curled-up cat.
Why it matters
Photography competitions for young people are not new, but the quality on this shortlist is striking. Several of these images show a level of timing, composition and lighting control that would be impressive from adult photographers, let alone teenagers.
For young creators thinking about how to build a portfolio or break into visual content, competitions like this remain one of the most direct routes to recognition.
A shortlist credit from the RSPCA carries weight, and the images will be seen by a far larger audience than most under-18s could reach on their own platforms.
Andrew Forsyth, RSPCA photographer and judge, called it “a brilliant collection of images from some truly passionate and talented young people.” Voting is open until 24 March.
The psychedelic hen is hard to beat, but the Jedi spaniel has momentum.
