Contest win has snapper purring (From Oxford Mail)

Contest win has snapper purring

5:06pm Wednesday 27th June 2007 in News By The Page Turner

Oxford Mail photographer Yuri Anderegg is feline fine after a series of photos starring a cat called Leo won a top award.

Mr Anderegg, 35, from Abingdon, took the series and sequences gold medal in the 2007 International Trierenberg Super Circuit Awards.

He took Leo, a three-year-old spotted Bengal, to 12 locations in Oxfordshire, to create the sequence Feline Life.

Locations included the Phoenix Picturehouse cinema in Jericho, Oxford; Abingdon School; and Berinsfield Boxing Club.

Mr Anderegg said: "I wanted to do something fun and a little bit different.

"We took the cat to all the locations and I didn't use any montages. I'll be going over to Linz, in Austria, in October to pick up the award."

Leo's owner Elspeth Silverwood got in touch with Mr Anderegg after he advertised for a cat to appear in the shoot Mrs Silverwood, 38, from Abingdon, said: "Leo is such a talented, laid-back cat and was perfect for these photos.

"When we took him to the cinema he was such a professional he even started eating the popcorn.

"I would love him to do more of this kind of work, perhaps for film or TV or in advertising."

The competition was organised by the International Federation of Photographic Art and the Photographic Society of America.

Last year Mr Anderegg won the gold medal in the portrait and landscape category in the same contest.

Anyone who wants to get in touch with Mrs Silverwood to hire Leo can contact her on cmesilverwood@aol.com