‘They looked like two curtain-twitchers, though not very subtle ones’: Peter Crome’s best phone picture

Walking home after dropping his little girl at school, Peter Crome sensed he was being watched. A former professional ballet dancer now living in London, he had supplemented his income with photography work for 20 years. “But since having my daughter, my Nikon gear has sat idly by,” he says. “I got so used to lugging my heavy equipment around with me, it’s been quite refreshing to go somewhere just with a phone and still come back with wonderful pictures. My iPhone has also been a blessing for keeping in touch with family back home in Sydney,” Crome adds.

The cause of his disquiet that day was, to his happy surprise, these two dogs. “It was such a comical moment,” he says. “They looked like two curtain-twitchers, though not very subtle ones. I liked how they were perfectly framed with the different layers of window frames, and the brickwork and hedge provided some pleasing textures, but it was the disapproving expression on their faces that made the photo for me.”

Crome waited for a while as the dogs watched other passersby, turning their heads in unison. He crossed the road to draw their attention, then took a single photo on his iPhone 14 Pro. “This is the sort of picture I would have sent my mum before she passed away a couple of years ago. I think this one would have really tickled her,” Crome says.