A regional daily photographer has won an international competition for a picture of displaced children from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Stuart Boulton from The Northern Echo won a category for photos of children in the “I Shot It” contest which is based in the US and open to amateur and professional photographers.

His winning image, pictured below, was taken in Western Uganda in 2009 when he was near the town of Kisoro to go mountain gorilla tracking.

Stuart has worked for the Echo for 21 years and was previously a press photographer on papers in the West Midlands and for an agency in Norwich.

For winning the competition, he received a Leica camera and $924 in prize money, part of which comes from the fee paid by those entering.

Said Stuart: “I entered the competition for the same reason I go down the bookies. I think I’m better at taking photographs though than I am at picking horses.

“My winning image was taken near the town of Kisoro in Western Uganda in 2009 and is of children displaced from the Democratic Republic of Congo due to the troubles there.

“I was in Kisoro to go mountain gorilla tracking and someone there told me about a camp of displaced Congolese nearby. The camp consisted of a few families living in makeshift shelters made from sheets of polythene. The children came to investigate and I made this photograph.

“The image is a particular favourite of mine, it’s very intense, and at a time when our profession is facing unprecedented challenges, it also shows the power and importance of good editorial photography”.