Undo
Londoners, check out LA-based photographer Alex Prager’s Big Valley show at Michael Hoppen Contemporary. She does mid-century modern gals, as in Hitchcock meets Valley of the Dolls. Above photo is from her archives, a bit disturbing but very cool.
Show runs until June 8, 2008.
Kisses
I discovered this beautiful cache of photos on Rebecca Collins’s always inspiring Art Dog Blog. See more of Fast Boy’s Girls in Bed set on his Flickr site. Note: some artistic nudity.
No Shame
Getting up Early to go to the Patagonia Summer Sale
Some Girls in Bed
Comfy
Do Not Feed the Animals
Shepherd with his horse and dog on Gravelly Range, Madison County, Montana by Russell Lee, 1942
I’m featuring dog photography this week in honor of the New York Photo Festival. Did you know that the Library of Congress has started a Flickr photostream? Here are a few dogs from their archives.
Beggar’s Dog, Hoboken, between 1910 and 1915
Polish Strikers at N.Y. Mills, Utica, between 1910 and 1915
A Store with Live Fish for Sale, near Natchitoches, LA by Marion Post Wolcott, 1940
Children in the Tenement District, Brockton, MA by Jack Delano, 1940
Tanis Guinness & Ta Wang, 1910
I’ve never seen this amazing (though a bit blurry) photo before of Picasso and his beloved Dachshund, Lump. He’s said to be "the only dog Picasso took in his arms." So cool.
Via The Long and Short of it All, a terrific blog for all things Dachshund.
Read more about Lump and his adventures with Picasso in David Douglas Duncan’s book Picasso & Lump: A Dachshund’s Odyssey
Look what L.A. pet photographer, Grace Chon just created for her clients. Covers of Woof Magazine so your superstar dog can have the press exposure he of she deserves. They look so authentic, no one needs to know that, like almost everything in this town, it’s just a façade. Very Hollywood and very clever!
Susan Sabo takes her dog photography beyond pretty pictures this Friday with her show This Is Who We Are. It will feature a collection of dogs who need homes immediately, with the shelter representatives standing by to answer questions and provide information. Also, all prints are available for purchase with proceeds going to the dog’s shelter, donated in the buyer’s name.
Facing the reality that this is who we are:
We don’t spay or neuter our dogs.
We chain them in the backyard.
We beat and kick them when they don’t "behave."
We abandon them in shelters, where they’ll likely be killed.
We abandon them in the streets, where they’ll likely die of starvation.
We kill their spirit, their will to live.
We break their hearts.
Susan uses her talent and drive to make change — brilliant on so many levels. I’m only featuring the invitation photo (above) and Susan sharing her mathematical equation on dog love (below) since she plans to reveal the rest of the photos opening night. Photo books will be available after the sale as well. I’ll get a link if she’s selling online.
Info:
WHAT: “This Is Who We Are: Photography by Susan Sabo”
WHEN: Friday, May 2nd, 2008 at 7pm
WHERE: Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association
4313 Atlantic Avenue
Long Beach, CA 90807
562-595-0081
Children & babies welcome.
No invitation needed; attire is casual.
Elliott Erwitt is one of my favorite photographers, and not just because dogs frequently appear in his work. I think there’s something about his outsider roots, he was born in Paris to Russian parents and emigrated to America in 1939, that allows him to capture the details of daily life and distill a sense of time and place into one image. That, and his street level perspective of 1970’s New York mirrors my own street level memories of “the city” during that era before Disney owned Times Square and the Gap set up shop on every street corner.
Philadelphians have a wonderful opportunity to see more that 60 Erwitt dog images at the James A. Michner Art Museum’s show, Elliott Erwitt: Dog Dogs , starting April 26 and running until August 31, 2008. For the rest of us, Erwitt’s beautifully designed website is great place to lose yourself in his exquisite photos spanning five decades, and his book, Dog Dogs,
On a side note, I found this great photography blog while searching for Erwitt dogs, Photo Of The Day. Very cool.
Frida Kahlo and her Xoloitzcuintli dogs. Photograph c. 1944 by Mexican photographer Lola Alvarez Bravo.
Via Merry & Happy, a Korean website great dog art finds, including some of mine.
Barbra Streisand
Sleeveface : verb, to obscure or augment any part of one’s body with record sleeve(s) causing an illusion.
Or my definition: noun, my new favorite website, brilliant.
Londoners get a chance to Sleeveface in public Wednesday, April 16 at The Social where Sleeveface founders, DJs John Rostron, Carl Forecast and Carl Morris will spin Turkish psych, hairy funk and Welsh rarities from 6pm to midnight. More info here.
Some of my favorite Sleeveface dogs:
Prince
Dead Kennedys
Keeba
Andy Williams
Hilarious YouTube tutorial on how to sleeveface…
Visit Sleeveface.com to see more.
Via Flavorpill: London.
Zoey
Yesterday, dog blog friends, Ann B. at the The Daily Dachshund and Linda O’Neill of Abby Creek Art both mentioned the AP’s article about Black Dog Syndrome – the sad fact that black dogs make up the highest percentage of dogs put to sleep in animal shelters because people have the perception that they are unfriendly. The article cites several reasons for this phenomenon including the misperception that all black dogs are aggressive, that white hairs in their muzzles can make them look elderly, that they are hard to see against the shadows of their cages, and that they are difficult to photograph, especially their dark eyes.
Maya
This reminded me of an amazing L.A. pet photographer I recently discovered named Grace Chon. I love Grace’s clean, modern style and her playful approach to photo shoots. She actually comes bearing treats and toys. But what I truly admire about Grace is her dedication to shelter dogs and the way she uses her talent to help them, especially black dogs, find forever homes.
Gorgeous black shelter dog
Grace spends her spare time volunteering for an animal rescue group called The Paw’d Squad. She takes beautiful photographs of the shelter dogs for their website in order help capture the essence of the dogs and help draw in people looking to adopt. Through what she affectionately calls her Extreme Dog Makeovers, she can make a big difference in whether or not a dog finds a home. For example, here is a snapshot of a Rottweiler named Fannie Mae taken by The Paw’d Squad:
Fannie Mae "Before"
And here is Grace’s photo:
Fannie Mae "After" really captures her happy, playful, silly nature. And by the way she’s still in need of a home if you know anyone.
And she doesn’t give up. Sometimes she will go back month after month taking photos of the same dog to try to get the exact right image that will attract a prospective doggie parent. Her results have been remarkable and have had a profound impact on helping The Paw’d Squad find homes for dogs that seemed completely unwanted, before Grace did her magic. For example can you believe this little guy had trouble finding a home?
Paw’d Squad snapshot of Brass a Rottweiler puppy mix.
Not after Grace gave him a photography makeover:
Who could resist seeing this little face on a website?
Also, as an owner of two black rescue dogs, Maeby, a former Mexican street dog, and Zoey, a pup born in the gutter of Taiwan whom she rescued through an international organization called ART, she is an advocate of adopting and promoting the joy of owning black dogs.
Maeby
Zoey after her bath
It’s been a tough week looking at the brutality of puppy mills on Oprah, searching for ways to raise money for the ASPCA, but when you see the impact that one person can make on the lives of so many dogs, it’s truly inspiring. It’s an honor, Grace, to feature you and your beautiful black dogs on Dog Art Today. Thanks for all your hard work on behalf of these sweet creatures just looking for a place to call home.
To commission a portrait of your pet visit Grace’s shinepetphotos website. To see more of her work along with more Dog Extreme Makeovers visit her blog.