Here Are The Best 29 Pics Of 2024, As Shared By Dog Photography Awards

We got in touch with Lea Styger, who took 2nd place in the Portrait category with her image ‘Hunted Architecture.’ We wanted to learn more about the photographer’s work and the winning shot.

First, when asked about her inspiration for capturing Zora, a Lucerne Hound, in a setting like the Maurerhalle, Lea responded: “I photographed Zora as part of my photo project ‘Basel Dog Calendar 2025.’ For 2025, I have thought of a special edition with the theme ‘Our 9 Swiss dog breeds present Basel.’ There was already a calendar for 2024 of dogs from Basel, photographed in Basel. For the elegant appearance of the Lucerne Hound, I chose an equally elegant location, and so I assigned Zora to the great Maurerhalle in Basel. It has little to do with ‘hunting’ - I chose the name for the picture because of Zora’s posture in the photo - it looks as if she is following a scent.”

We were curious to learn more about the mood Styger aimed to convey in her photograph. We found out that: “My goal was to capture this impressive hall with the special wall together with the elegant hound, without the dog being lost or too little of the architecture being visible. The colors and mood of the picture reflect the style I have acquired over the last few years. So it was perfect that the sun wasn’t shining that day and there was a soft and atmospheric light in the hall. I didn’t want a bright, sweet picture, but rather a harsh contrast with the bare concrete and this elegant breed of dog, a picture that you look at for a long time.”

The photographer continued and told us how Zora’s demeanor contributed to creating that atmosphere: “Zora was rather cautious in the masonry hall at first. But she quickly understood that we wanted to ‘work’ with her here and so she fell into her typical hound posture, which she adopts when she is allowed to go hunting (work) with her owner.”

Lea shared with us some of the challenging aspects of capturing the winning image: “For my photo project, I planned in advance exactly which pictures I wanted at which location. This was also the case here in the Maurerhalle. I really wanted a picture of Zora walking past this wall, so I did some research beforehand, created a small mood board and took the right equipment with me. I was inspired by various architecture photographers on social media who take such pictures with human models. I then simply incorporated this into my dog ​​photography. I actually wanted to capture Zora trotting or running, but she didn’t feel like that, she preferred to creep through the hall at a long stride, as if on the hunt.”

Lastly, we wanted to understand how the ‘Hunted Architecture’ photo fits into the overall body of Lea’s work. The photographer shared: “I already photographed dogs in Basel for my Basel dog calendar for 2024. During this time I have been busy with architectural photography a lot, because I want to show the special features and sights of Basel without the dog or the location competing with each other or one of them getting lost, much more so that they complement each other and together complete the picture.

“I will be doing more projects like this in the future. I particularly like the connection between architecture and dogs. It allows me to live out my artistic and creative side more and steer my work in a direction that I have had in mind for a long time. I would also like to continue to live this out outside of Basel. You can be excited, there is a lot on my list for my photographic future as a dog photographer.”