8 award-winning photos of pets that will change the way you see your furry friends

The 2023 World Photo Annual contest celebrated both professional and non-professional photographers from all over the world.

Jatenipat Ketpradit was named the international photographer of the year in the professional category, honoring the breathtaking photos he took of the Asaro Mudmen warriors in Papua New Guinea, as seen above.

The contest included multiple sections within both the professional and non-professional categories, such as abstract and aerial to honor different types of photography.

One of the most fun sections of the contest, called domestic animals, celebrated artists who made household pets the subject of their photos.

Travis Patenaude was awarded the photographer of the year and people's vote award in the domestic animals, professional category for his photo "Saying Goodbye," which shows a man grieving his dog.

In the shot, a man sits on a stool holding a leash and a well-loved stuffed rabbit. A dog leans on his shoulder, though its body dissipates into the air and glows in an otherworldly manner, indicating it wasn't actually there.

As Patenaude shared on Instagram in 2020, the photo was designed to honor his late dog Leena who helped him when he was struggling with depression.

Shawnalee Anderton was awarded the silver prize in the professional domestic animals category for her black-and-white shot, "Lean On Me."

Anderton snapped a shot of a retired fire chief leaning his head back onto his service dog in her photo, as her entry states.

The pose points to the intimacy between the pair, and their work together makes the emotion in the photo even more poignant.

Harry Giglio also won the silver prize in the professional category for domestic animals.

Aptly titled "Ears," Giglio took an aerial shot of a dog's head in black and white.

The intricacies of the creature's form shine in the shot, from the wrinkles on its head to the veins in its ears.

In the bronze-winning photo "Glacier's Frozen Heart," a dog is completely surrounded by blue-tinged ice, overlooking the stunning area. Sun shines in from the right, while darkness creeps in from the left, indicating the space goes on beyond what the eye can see.

Bellot Audrey photographed her dog in an ice cave in Switzerland, as she shared on Instagram.

Heike Willers turned her Dachshund, Kluftinger, into a model when she stumbled upon a colorful wall in Munich, Germany, as she shared in her entry for the contest.

Kluftinger looks tiny as he stands in the center of a crimped wall, posing where a red side meets a purple one. He looks to the side in the shot, just past a no-parking sign, almost making him look like an attendant.

The picture earned Willers the discovery of the year award in the non-professional category of the domestic animals section.

Willers also won the silver prize in the non-professional domestic animals category for "Good Night, Elisabeth," a photo she took of Kluftinger in an abandoned castle in Germany, as her contest entry stated.

In the photo, Kluftinger sits on an ottoman and looks intently up at an aged photo of a woman.

The contrast of the dog's energetic stare with the dated photos and old-fashioned yellow wallpaper in the room is striking.

Nina Jüngling's photo of a galloping horse, titled "The Irish Cob: A Breed Like No Other," earned her the people's vote award in the non-professional category.

She photographed an Irish Cob horse as it galloped on a windy day, snapping the photo at the moment the horse looked in her direction.

Titled "The Memorial of Kumi," Joyce Reinertson's photo captured her cats honoring Kumi, their companion who recently died.

In the photo, her two living cats reach toward a photo of Kumi, raising their paws in the air. A bouquet sits between them, and Kumi appears to look toward the camera from the portrait on the wall.