A masters graduate has won an international professional photography competition.

Rebecca Litchfield, 27, from East Croydon, was elated when she discovered she won the Fashion Photographer of the Year 2009 category and was also named Professional Photographer of the Year 2009.

The competition was organised by Professional Photographer magazine.

She said: “It was an amazing feeling to win, for so many years I have been working day and night to create my fashion portfolio.

She has been working as a portrait photographer but has a passion for fashion photography.

“It is my aim to make fashion photography more conceptual and full of ideas. I enjoy a lot of the fashion stories I see in magazines, but I want to really push the notion of creating magical worlds full of passion and emotion. A lot of the time I see perfectly executed images in magazines but nothing really unusual that makes you look twice.”

She added she hoped the exposure will mean she can start working as a freelance fashion photographer.