When you’re broke, you sometimes do extraordinary things. Sophie signed up for medical trials. While sitting in a London hospital being monitored for reactions to a new drug, she finally found time to piece together a portfolio and enter the Young Photographer competition. She still has a sporadic rash, but it was worth it.

Unlike the other winners she never had any training in press photography, instead Sophie graduated from Nottingham Trent University with a degree in art photography.

After a couple of years at The Times she still prefers taking pictures of people for features to the daily scrum of news photography. “If I see a big news story coming in I’m not one of these people immediately running to photograph it, I’ll be the one running the other way to hide until it’s over.”

Sophie is happiest composing portraits, but she hasn’t yet mastered conversation and composition at the same time. “I love working with actors and musicians, but I don’t really speak to the people that much. It’s not conscious; I’m just too busy concentrating.”