Surrey photographer Chris Whiteoak took the top prize at the industry’s Regional Press Awards last Friday.

Crowned the Sport Photographer of the Year, Whiteoak works as a photographer for the Surrey Advertiser. His winning images include an action shot of Scottish tennis star Andy Murray.

“The other pictures were so well-captured that I did not think I had a hope,” said Whiteoak of his win. “I just could not believe it when they called my name, and all I could say was ‘Thank you’. I am so grateful to my parents, my colleague Alistair Wilson, my chief photographer Steve Porter and my former editor Elaine Cole.”

Whiteoak, who studied photography and media at The Sixth Form College, Farnborough, said he became interested in photography at the age of 13, when he found one of his father’s old cameras. He trained as a journalist in Sheffield and began working at the Aldershot News Group in 2007.

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