A nine-year-old from Llandrindod Wells has won four categories in the RSPCA Young Photographer Awards 2024 as the charity marks its historic 200th year anniversary.
Jamie Smart won the Pet Portraits category with her image ‘Not Impressed’ which shows her 13-year-old cat Humbug.
She also secured the top spot in the new Better World category with her image ‘Ready for bed’ which features an owl, her ‘City fisher’ photo of a kingfisher in the city won her the City Life category, and ‘Rise of the Gannet’ won the Under 12s.
Jamie also came runner-up or commended in Small World, Better World and the Under 12 categories.
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 on Thursday, December 19.
Jamie was the youngest ever winner of the RSPCA photography competition last year and this year has seen a whopping eight images shortlisted.
Jamie, who has her own website Eagle Eyed Girl, said: “To be shortlisted for the YPAs three times in a row is mind-blowing and winning last year has had a big impact on me. I aimed to win overall and then I did, so I put a lot of hard work into it. It was amazing to win! It made me want to enter again and take more photos and try new things.
“I’d love to be a wildlife photographer and presenter one day, that’s my dream job. I like showing the different sides to wildlife, the cute side but also what they have to go through. I want to inspire people to fall in love with animals and to protect them.
“The more people who are inspired by wildlife the more they will want to protect them and that’s the key to my photography.”
All entries are judged entirely anonymously which makes Jamie’s multiple successes this year even more of an achievement.
Sponsors of the competition are Natures Images (wildlife photography holidays) and Camtraptions (camera traps for wildlife photography).
To mark the charity’s 200th birthday, the RSPCA added two new categories - ‘Better World’ which portray what a better world for animals looks like, and ‘City Life’ - which highlights how animals are all around us even where we least expect them and to show how we can live harmoniously together.
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.
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.
The RSPCA Young Photographer Awards 2025 opens for entries on May 6.
For more information visit: rspca.org.uk/ypa for all the latest news, galleries and photo tips.