Growing into Character: Belinda Richards – Dog Photographer of the Year 2025
In her award-winning piece “I’m All Ears,” photographer Belinda Richards captures more than just the growth of a puppy—she tells a heartfelt story of love, loss, and new beginnings. Over the course of a year, she documented Penny, an energetic German Shepherd, as she transformed from an eight-week-old pup into a fully grown companion for her owner, Sarah, who had recently lost her beloved shepherd, Archie. Combining humor, meticulous attention to detail, and a striking black-and-white aesthetic, Belinda transforms a series of moments into a single, cohesive narrative that celebrates both the passage of time and the joy of new connections.
Can you walk us through your creative process for your winning image « I’m All Ears » ?
Sarah came to me a couple of years ago with her beloved shepherd Archie. We created stunning artwork for her which now hangs proudly in her home. Unfortunately Archie passed away not long after, leaving Sarah devastated. A little while later Sarah welcomed the 8 week old GSD pup Penny into her home to help mend her heart. As soon as I saw this I knew I wanted to do something nice for Sarah and at the same time I would also be able to fulfill an idea that I had been cooking for a while. I reached out to Sarah who as soon as she heard the idea committed immediately. I wanted to document Penny grow! Puppies grow and change so fast and we really wanted to record this transformation. So over the next 12 months Sarah came in every week in the beginning and then every few weeks until Penny was fully grown. And Penny was such a trooper. I didn’t have an exact idea of what I wanted to produce so I documented her in comparison to so many things! Chairs, Bowties, sitting with Sarah, you name it, Penny posed it. In the end when I sat down to look at the images, the greatest change was her ears. They changed every time I saw her. And my dog were they cute! So I started playing with ideas of how I would show this change as she went from a baby into adulthood. In the end this is the configuration that I came up with. I love the result and so does her Mum.
Your work often blends multiple photos into one — what’s the biggest challenge in doing this?
I love using multiple images to tell a story. Storytelling and humour are the backbone of the work that I love to do. For something like this shot over the course of 12 months, the biggest difficulty is making sure the lighting and posing is the same each time. I like to leave the editing until after all sessions have been shot so that when I am designing the final artwork I can make sure that everything is edited to create consistency and maximum impact.
Since you work in color and black and white, why did you select black and white for this image in particular?
It’s funny, I mainly work in colour. However when putting this image together the black and white conversion just stripped the image of any distractions and really brought out the texture in Penny’s ears and coat. I spent a lot of time dodging and burning to really accentuate those details and it just sang once converted.
Can you tell us more about your style, and how you arrived there?
My style really depends on what I am doing and the purpose. With the Grow Sessions that I offer my clients I try to keep them really polished and minimal so that the development of the pup is the focus. I think this is something that has resonated with me since I started providing these sessions that dog is the start of the show here and I really try to lean in to that.
What are you working on next?
Right now I am working on a series about Australian Birds as a personal project. It’s really different to the stuff I do with my pet clients and I am kind of obsessed right now! You can check the project out on my website if you like. Other than that we are into the busy end of the year so I will be head down getting all of my clients artwork complete and ready for Christmas.
More about Belinda Richards: https://www.belindarichards.com/
