A TEENAGE brother and sister duo with a passion for photography have both been handed a prestigious accolade.

Siblings Remy, aged 17 and Esmé, aged 15 have been awarded a Distinction by the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), making them licentiates of the society.

Peter Hayes of the RPS Distinctions Committee said the distinctions are recognised as the gold standard in photography around the world and Esmé is one of the youngest people ever to achieve it.

She and her brother, who live in Corfe Castle, were awarded the accolade on the same day.

They each had to create a panel of ten cohesive photographs and both created "graphic and quirky" collections of commercial photography, largely featuring each other.

"They are very clean images," Remy said. "We have all the Purbeck landscape on our doorstep so it probably would have been easier to just point the camera out the window but we have actually created all the pictures - I think it worked in our favour."

"We've built every one from scratch," Esme adds. "We wanted to learn as much as we could during the process. It was more about the journey than the piece of paper."

The duo each spent a year creating their panels and said once the judgement day came round they felt confident in what they had achieved.

"You put so much work in. Even the preparation and mounting takes a lot of time. There was an immense satisfaction by the end putting more than a year's worth of work into the panel," Remy said. "Going into it we were quite confident but it was very different on the day. There was quite a hype to it. I think we were more confident in each others work."

The pair collaborate almost exclusively together assisting with lighting and offering their opinion.

"If one of us is exclusively the photographer, the other will always offer to help even if it's just bringing tea and biscuits," Remy said.

He added as the pair were siblings they were able to be completely honest with each other, even if it "didn't always end well".

Esme added: "All the portraits on our website are of each other."

Now the pair have both achieved the title of licentiate, they already have their sights set on bigger and better things.

Remy said they are already considering trying to get the next level of distinction (associate) from the RPS and they hoped their recent accolade would give them some validation and attract further commissions.

"We are always looking for more work. We both definitely want to pursue careers in photography. Entering our panels has really honed our skills and been a great experience. The distinction is recognised worldwide so hopefully it will give us some elevation," he said.

You can view Esme and Remy's work at caldecourtproductions.com