More than 1,000 photographers entered the child photo competition contest that was themed around children with animals, but Polish snapper Justyna Garczyk-Kleszcz’s atmospheric black and white snap took the prize.

 Julie Whelan was the only English photographer to make the final 40 with a winning picture showing a seaside scene through the eyes of a dog, featuring the back of a furry head in the foreground as two young girls paddle in the shallow surf in the distance.

Also among the final 40 entries is a beautiful image by another Polish photographer Marta Obiegla of a cat that seems to be stroking the forehead of its young human companion.

Another submission features a girl, with a strong resemblance to the cat she’s holding up to her face. In the black and white photo captured by Russian photographer Uliana Kharinova, the young girl has striking feline features with dark freckles and cat-shaped eyes.

One of the most ethereal images captures a young girl walking barefoot into the sunset alongside a wolf dog.

Egle Ruth, the American photographer who took it, said: ‘Photographs have had a very strong emotional power on me since I was a little girl.’