Dogs by Gerrard Gethings

 ” My aim is that the photographs should be aspirational. Anyone can take a reasonably good picture these days. The camera on the new iphone probably has a better resolution than my first digital SLR. Take enough shots at the right time of day and you will get a result. This is good news for good photographers and bad news for the rest. The proliferation of digital imaging equipment has meant that photographers have to raise their game. Capturing beautiful, fine detail in an image isn’t about resolution, sharpness or magapixels ( although they have a part to play ) it’s about light and shade. Knowing what to do with the highlights and capturing detail in the shadows, this is what’s really important. Photography is as much a trade as it is an art form. Like any other trade it has to be learned. Lighting is key. It is what controls every single aspect of the image. The camera controls nothing. It is only there to record what happens when the flash goes off. Having studied this trade for some time it is my aim to bring the highest quality portraiture to what is generally a poorly represented genre – Dog photography”.  ( Gerrard Gethings )

Least Likely to Be Adopted by Lanola Kathleen Stone

Lanola Kathleen Stone is a New York City-based professional photographer, artist, author, and educator. Her commercial clients seek her out to photograph interiors, portraits, and lifestyle, although she is mostly know for her aptitude with children and childhood imagery.

The concept was to make “fashionesque images” of the longest in residence at the dog pound near my home (some dogs had been there over six months). I specifically asked for the dogs that were the “least likely to be adopted” and took their portraits to represent them with personality, youth and “edge” in order to aid their adoption. All the dogs pictured here were adopted.

More than Human – Tim Flach

A renowned London-based photographer Tim Flach presents his work of seven years in an animal portrait book called “More than Human“. By taking striking close-up shots of various animals, Tim attempts to demonstrate how close can animal gestures and poses get to those of the humans. What looks like images of unselfconscious and spontaneous reactions of the animals, is actually a result of long research and observation done by the artist. Every animal responds differently to temperature changes, light, human presence and even sounds – some of them would feel better with the music on, while the other would get intimidated by it. The carefully lit and cropped images evoke unexpected sense of intimacy and empathy even with the less cuddly animal models. Tim did everything to create individual settings for all of them, and his magnificent pictures prove that all the efforts paid off. What looks like images of unselfconscious and spontaneous reactions of the animals, is actually a result of long research and observation done by the artist.

Animal portraits – Simen Johan

Nice photo series titled “Animal portraits” by New York photographer Simen Johan.

Visit Simen Johan website.