Briton wins prestigious $50,000 Canadian photography prize for portraits of dogs and gymnasts

A British photographer has claimed the Grange Prize, a $50,000 (£31,000) Canadian award for international contemporary photography.

Jo Longhurst, 50, from Essex beat three others to take the prize after a public vote. The Royal College of Art graduate won for her striking portraits of gymnasts and whippet show dogs in two bodies of work called Other Spaces and The Refusal.

Another Briton, Jason Evans from Holyhead, Wales, was also among the four shortlisted photographers. The other two were Canadian Emmanuelle Léonard and Annie MacDonell.

Click here or on "View Gallery" for more pictures

The three runners up will each receive $5,000 prize money and all four photographers will receive an artist residency on the strength of their work.

Longhurst and Evans will join the AGO’s artist-in-residence program in Toronto, and Léonard and MacDonell be awarded UK-based residencies.

The Grange Prize was launched in 2008 to recognize the best in Canadian and international contemporary photography. It is partnership between the Art Gallery of Ontario and Aimia.

Each year a nominating jury of experts select a shortlist of four photographers, two from Canada and two from the partner country.

Previous winners include Gauri Gill of India (2011), Canadian photographer Kristan Horton (2010), Marco Antonio Cruz of Mexico (2009) and Canadian photographer Sarah Anne Johnson (2008).