The image of a lean cheetah leaping over open grassland can perhaps evoke an intense emotional response. But Dr Parvish Pandya, director — science and conservation, Sanctuary Nature Foundation says, "That is exactly what we're not looking for."

Pandya is also on the panel of judges for the 19th Sanctuary Wildlife Photography Awards — a platform launched in 2000 by Sanctuary Asia, a wildlife magazine that has been around since 1981. The purpose behind these awards, Pandya tells us, is not just to select three of the best images from almost 5,000 entries this year from all across Southeast Asia — including countries like India, Pakistan. Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand — but also to identify those that marry ethics and aesthetics. The reason why this is paramount to this particular competition is because it was launched with the vision of making wildlife photography a conservation tool.