Why Is Everyone Photographing Dogs?
A spring 2016 round-up of dog photography
Dogs are more than man’s best friend. As we have noted previously, they also seem to be photography’s number-one muse these days. Each week brings several new dog-related photo stories our way. And we pretty much enjoy all of them, because like so many others who spend their days bouncing around the Internet, images of dogs make us happier. Blame it on evolution and mankind’s long relationship with canines.
To be sure, we see (and like) plenty of cats, as well: In fact, when it comes to the Internet, cats rule, as was made clear in an exhibition last year at the Museum of the Moving Image that considered why felines have such an out-sized online fan base. Interestingly, however, dogs seem to be tops when it comes to Internet memes.
Make of that what you will.
At any rate, last year PPD vowed to occasionally round up a number of dog-photography stories to assess the state of the art. Here are nine stories that caught our attention in recent weeks. The subjects range from one man who is trying to photograph every breed of dog in the America to photographer Sophie Gamand’s mythic series Xolotl, The Soul Companion, an homage to Xoloitzcuintli, Mexico’s national dog. Then there is photographer Chris Cline, who turned his his dog Juji into a larger-than-life companion.
Creating A Photographic Purebred Dog Ark
Dog photographer Ty Foster is on a mission: He wants to shoot portraits of every purebred dog breed. There are, he noted recently at PetaPixel, roughly 340 different breeds of dogs, 188 of which are recognized by the American Kennel Club as purebred dog pedigrees.
So far, Foster has photographed some 77 of the breeds, using a consistent three-light setup (which he explains) to showcase the specific traits and attributes attained through years of intentional breeding.
India’s Dog Savior
PetaPixel also recently featured a story by Indian photographer Meghanadan A S, who has created a documentary project focused on a pair of dog saviors: For the past nine years, Arun Pasare and his wife, Suvarna Pasare, have been taking care of street dogs.
“On the streets of India, people treat [the dogs] in the worst possible manner. Throwing stones, kicking and abusing them by all means,” writes the photographer.
Though the Pasare’s have little money, they make sure the dogs they have taken in are well fed, he adds.
Man’s Big Best Friend
“For Minnesota-based photographer Chris Cline, his dog Juji is more than his best friend; he’s his guardian,” noted Feature Shoot this month.
A few years ago, Cline left his home in Virginia to move in with his girlfriend in the Midwest. He missed home and longed for something to anchor him. Juji did the trick. In return, Cline has created a series expressing how he feels about the dog’s colossal presence in his life. See more of his picture at Instagram.
Maternity Photos For Dogs
This sounds like a photographic specialty whose time has come: Brazilian maternity photographer Ana Paula Grillo recently took on a new expectant client: her friend’s dog Lilica.
Lilica’s pregnancy resulted from a short romance with a neighbor’s dog. “She was amazing,” Grillo told the Dodo website. “She smiled in a way that was just so nice.” Grillo’s experience photographing pregnant human shows in her images of Lilica, who beams and glows.
Preening and Primping at the Westminster Kennel Show
Dogs aren’t really the subject of Brooklyn-based photographer Cait Oppermann’s behind-the-scenes shots of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York: The real focus is on the behavior of the humans applying hairspray and curlers to ready the canines for their moments of glory.
The tension of the competition is palpable in many of the images. “This is [the owner’s] time to show off their hard work, so most trainers and groomers loved being shot and even helped make photos better by getting their dogs to look a certain way or pose,” says Oppermann at It’s Nice that.
Travels With Claire
We noted recently that Dutch photographer Alice van Kempen’s photo of her bull terrier Claire was the winner of the Readers Choice prize in this year’s Smithsonian magazine photo contest.
The picture, which shows Claire wrapped in a fur scarf and sitting aboard an abandoned train, is part of a project called “Leave Only Pawprints: Urbex Adventures With My Bull Terrier Claire,” in which Claire is seen in various abandoned sites across Europe. Van Kempen has been photographing dogs for ads since 1998, noted BuzzFeed in January.
Capturing “Xolotl, The Soul Companion”
“I photograph dogs to better understand humans,” says Sophie Gamand, a French photographer and animal advocate based in New York City who has created a number of projects exploring the connection between canines and mankind, including a series portraying pit bulls from animal shelters wearing crowns of flowers.
Another recent series, called “Xolotl, The Soul Companion,” was a winner of the Latin American Fotografia 4 competition. An homage to the Xoloitzcuintli, or Mexican Hairless dog — named after the Aztec god Xolotl — the work is an evocation of an ancient myth.
Seth Casteel on Cats and Dogs
Pet photography is booming, and Seth Casteel is one reason why. His images of dogs diving into swimming pools became an Internet sensation in 2012 and went on to spawn a series of best-selling books.
Casteel was struggling when his work was discovered. “My friends all said, ‘Be a wedding photographer,’ but I didn’t want to,” Casteel said. “I told them, ‘I’m a pet photographer, and that’s that.’” Now he is ready to bring out his latest book — which features cats pouncing. “You can’t expect things to go right when you’re working with a cat,” he noted.
Celebrating the Working Dog
Andrew Fladboe’s heroic portraits of working dogs in New Zealand and elsewhere have become big hits — fashion photographer (and dog lover) Bruce Weber is a fan. “I find it so interesting that two species that hunted the same prey would team up,” says Fladeboe of the relationship between dog and man.
As we noted, studies suggest that dog evolution has been bound together with human evolution, each species benefiting from the company of the other, each facing similar environmental pressures that drove the re-wiring of both.
Originally published by AI-AP. David Schonauer is editor of Pro Photo Daily and AI-AP Profiles. Follow him on Twitter. Jeffrey Roberts is publisher of Pro Photo Daily and AI-AP. Follow Jeffrey on Twitter. Follow Pro Photo Daily on Facebook.
