A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

Winners of the 2022 World Dog Press Association photo competition

Yossi Guy

This year’s World Dog Press Association photo competition had some great entries from all over the world. The awards ceremony took place at the World Dog Show in Madrid, Spain. The Supreme Winner won a bundle of cash and a trip to Abu Dhabi.

The World Dog Press Association serves photographers and journalists who deal with the dog world. It was founded 20 years ago and has members from six continents, including the United States, Europe, the Middle East and the Far East.

This year, it held its fifth competition. The photos entered came from China, India, Europe and the U.K. Some of the more heartwarming entries came from members in Ukraine, one of whose, by Mykhailo Lukianov, was placed in one of the categories.

There were four categories, each with three placings. The first category is Sports and Action, which captures the excitement of dogs in action. The second category is Man’s Best Friend, portraying the emotional bond between human beings and their canine companions. The third category is Portraits, containing photos of dogs, close-ups and other shots.

The fourth category, included for the first time, was Hero Dogs. The idea behind this is dogs that provide humans with various types of service – defense, therapy, rescue and others. It is not an easy category, and many participants did not enter photos there. However, some of the photos in this category were extremely impressive and touching.

The three judges, all photographers with connection to dogs, received the photos without any identification and scored them. They also decided on the Supreme Winner. The panel included Mr. Carlos Salas of Spain, a show judge and photographer; Mr. Niels Donvil of Belgium, a photographer, and Mr. Amit Eshel from Israel, a prize-winning National Geographic photographer.

This year’s competition offered the winners several very interesting and valuable prizes. The competition was sponsored by Birdbrook Rosettes, Monge Petfood Italy, Costanza and Louis de Liederkerke-Ferraris and the Al Dhafra Heritage Festival in Abu Dhabi.

The winners in each category received a cash prize of 700 Euros, with the first and second runners-up winning substantial prizes as well.

Two photos, selected separately by Costanza and Louis de Liederkerke-Ferraris from Belgium, received 250 Euros each. It turned out one of these was also placed in one of the categories.

Monge will publish some of the photos – at its discretion – in its 2023 calendar.

However, leaving the best for last, the photo chosen by the judges as the Supreme Winner entitles its creator, Gill Batson from the U.K., to a trip to the Al Dhafra Heritage Festival in Abu Dhabi, all expenses paid! Definitely superb.

The winners are: