An image of a Dalmatian dog called Amber, shot by English pet photographer Sophia Hutchinson, has won the International PhoTOGrapher of the Year title in the 2022 awards.
The annual TOG Awards is an international photography competition that’s organised and administrated by That Photography Spot, whose community follows the multiple award-winning portrait photographer Jessica McGovern.
In 2022 the competition had over 650 entries from 24 different countries around the world.
It was judged by photographers Jessica McGovern, Meg Loeks and Tracey Lund, based on allocating scores for each image in a matrix system that outputs averages to decide a winner.
Sophia Hutchinson’s Frozen Vigilance has won the International PhoTOGrapher of the Year 2022 title
From all of the entries Sophia Hutchinson’s image, Frozen Vigilance, from the Natural Light category (which it also won), was the only image scoring more than 85 points to achieve a unanimous score from all three judges, resulting in a strong average in the high 90s.
As the overall winner of The TOG Awards 2022, Hutchinson took the grand prize of $500 in cash, a 20×16 Competition Class printed product from Digitalab, an engraved overall The TOG Awards Winners Trophy and a Winners Certificate.
Hutchinson’s image also won the Dog PhoTOGrapher of the Year sub-category.
Jessica McGovern explained, ‘To achieve one of the top scores in The TOG Awards is a serious achievement, but to gain the highest collated score across nearly 700 entries is remarkable. We can only see great things to come for Ms Hutchinson, whose imagery was truly stunning.’
Chin Up by Lynn Musumeche won the Artificial Light category of The TOG Awards 2022
The Artificial Light category of The TOG Awards was won by Lynn Musumeche for her image Chin Up, which also won the Studio Dog PhoTOGrapher of the Year sub-category.
The Fine Art category was won by Christable Linn with her image Bellas Gambit.
McGovern added, ‘The TOG Awards exist to find and celebrate talent within the photographic community, from all walks of life, no matter the subject matter or professional focus. We had a strict rule when judging not to cast bias for, or against, any specific style of work, yet still meet the criteria seen in international print competitions. I’m really pleased that we have done just that.’
Bellas Gambit by Christabel Linn won the Fine Art category of The TOG Awards 2022
Sub-category winners
The finalist images were split into seven sub-categories depending on their subject matter and shooting techniques to form a set of sub-category winners. Each sub-category win is titled as that category’s ‘PhoTOGrapher of the Year’.
Sub-category winners receive an optional TOG Awards Sub-Category Winners Trophy, a Sub-Category Winners Certificate and a Sub-Category Winners Badge.
The Equine PhoTOGrapher of the Year 2022 was Johanna Charlton with her image Highland Fling.
Highland Fling by Johanna Charlton won the Equine PhoTOGrapher of the Year sub-category
The Open PhoTOGrapher of the Year 2022 was Jessica Miles with her image In Between.
In Between by Jessica Miles won the Open PhoTOGrapher of the Year sub-category
The Cat PhoTOGrapher of the Year 2022 was Kat de Laet with her image A Cloud of Gold.
A Cloud of Gold by Kat de Laet won the Cat PhoTOGrapher of the Year sub-category
The Action Dog PhoTOGrapher of the Year 2022 was Carol Moorhead with her image Dutch Splash.
Dutch Splash by Carol Moorhead won the Action Dog PhoTOGrapher of the Year sub-category
The Urban Dog PhoTOGrapher of the Year 2022 was Katie Brockman with her image Elegance.
Elegance by Katie Brockman won the Urban Dog PhoTOGrapher of the Year sub-category
That Photography Spot
That Photography Spot is an online photographic learning platform with a popular YouTube channel focusing on pet photography, so the organisers of The TOG Awards said it was ‘not a surprise’ that many entries featured animals.
The next cycle of The TOG Awards opens in November 2022 and ‘aims to meet and exceed all targets achieved this year, including the grand prize pot.’
Find out more…
To find out more about The TOG Awards just go to The TOG Awards.
To view more of Sophia Hutchinson’s work just visit Sophia Hutchinson – Professional Pet Portraits.
