A PHOTOGRAPHER faced a needle in a haystack-style challenge as he set out to find a dog he had photographed a year ago.

But Chris Silk managed to find the elusive canine after launching an appeal with The Argus.

His spectacular snap of the hound who appeared to have human legs won him the coveted title of street photographer of the year at the British Photography Awards.

The Argus:

To celebrate, the 41-year-old decided he wanted to give a print of the photo to the owner of the dog.

He just had one slight challenge – he knew absolutely nothing about the dog, aside from what he could see in the photo.

Chris said: “It was a Sunday afternoon, almost exactly a year ago now. I was walking along Hove seafront looking for a shot when I saw the dog and its owner sitting there. I thought I could walk over to one side and get that humorous twist to the picture.

“In street photography, often things don’t work out but you get this amazing buzz when they do. The British Photography Award is the first time any of my pictures have won but it made me wonder who the owner of the dog was.”

The Argus:

So he contacted The Argus and asked the paper to publish the photo and put out a plea in an attempt to find the mysterious mutt.

Miraculously, with the incredible help of readers who shared the article so it was seen more than 18,000 times, the dog was found.

Owner Sheila Fortescue contacted the paper to say it was her chocolate labrador, Susa.

The 46-year-old said: “It was my dog walker who sent me the article asking if it was me.

“Initially I thought, ‘that’s my dog, she has distinctive specks on her nose, but that’s not my leg’. That really threw me.

“Then I realised it could be my friend Robin.

“It was a bit surreal seeing my dog in the paper. A shock, but a nice shock. It’s just the last thing you expect to happen, at least she was being well behaved at the time.”

The Argus:

Sheila has had Susa, who will be nine in March, since she was a puppy and said she was “ a real sweetheart” who “is loved by everyone who meets her”.

Chris, who lives in Rudgwick near Horsham, is now keen to meet the star of his prize-winning shoot.

He said: “I thought we could meet up, I’m so familiar with Susa now, it would be good to meet and give her some treats.

“I’m usually on the other side of the camera, but maybe we could get a picture together. I want to give her a framed picture of the print as well.”