28 13 July 2019 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113
CANINE-HUMAN PORTRAITS
in Stoke Newington who had a
really sculpted beard. He didn’t
speak English, so it was fun trying
to explain to him that I wanted to
shoot him like a dog. He turned up
to the studio, though.’
The other humans were found in
all manner of locations – in the
park, on the bus, in shops – with
all but one of the participants being
ordinary people with no modelling
experience. As you can imagine,
approaching strangers to tell them
they have a certain canine quality is
something that needs to be handled
with tact. ‘You’ve got to err on the
positive,’ Gerrard laughs. ‘You have
to say something like “you’ve got
an amazing nose” or “you’ve got
incredible hair” – something really
positive. Essentially you’re saying
they’ve got a massive nose, but
you have to say it in a very
complimentary way. People
generally are quite flattered though
if you want to use their face for
something. Nobody said no, and
nobody was insulted by it.
Studio set-up
Gerrard shot all of the portraits in a
studio in Shoreditch, London. Each
shot was photographed in the same
way, with a relatively simple set-up.
Using a Canon EOS 5D Mark III
with a 50mm f/1.2 lens for the
majority of shots, the lighting
consisted of Profoto 10 packs,
Profoto pro heads, three softboxes
and a white beauty dish for the
main light. He says it was important
to use the same set-up for the
humans and the dogs to ensure a
uniformity of output. The different
coloured backgrounds were actually
there – because, given the complex
outline of the average dog, changing
the colour of backgrounds in
post-production is more
complicated. Colours were chosen
for the best aesthetics: ‘black is
always going to look good against
yellow, white looks great on pink –
then obviously the humans just got
whatever background the dog had,’
Gerrard elaborates.
Another old adage is that one
should never work with animals or
children. Knowing only too well just
how stubborn dog models can be
(perhaps it’s just mine), I was
impressed by how well Gerrard
had managed to capture dogs who
didn’t belong to him. I’m relieved to
discover that he found it tricky. ‘The
set-up is a small environment – the
dog’s probably got about six foot
square, within which the light is
perfect. You’ve got to work out what
the dog reacts to – it’s the same with
all animals really. 90% of dogs will
stare longingly at a piece of cheese,
but some dogs aren’t interested
and then it becomes more difficult.
Some dogs are more interested in
movements. I usually build a wall
of polyboards behind me so that
everybody [Gerrard’s team] isn’t
bugging the dog and distracting it.
You could get someone to throw
something at the boards, or rattle it,
which means you get a reaction. You
could try bouncing a ball really hard
on the floor in front of the camera- whatever you do, you don’t get
long with it, a nanosecond.’ Despite
the difficulties, Gerrard now
realises that dogs are at least more
pliable than their feline friends:
‘I’m doing a project with cats at the
moment – it’s like this job but times
1,000. They’re really hard; they’re
awful. You’ve got to go to them as
well, too. We shot eight dogs a day
for this project, whereas with cats,
you can only do one a day because
you’ve got to go to their house, on
their terms – it’s a nightmare.’
Overall, Gerrard photographed
more dogs than the number that
ended up in the final project. Once
they were all photographed, he
needed to see them all together
to make sure there was enough
variation in the final set.
Photographing the humans came
next, who presented their ownAfter studying Fine
Art Painting and
Photography, Gerrard
Gethings worked
with Terry O’Neill for
eight years. He has
spent the past decade
becoming a prolific
animal photographer.
See more of his work at
gerrardgethings.com.Monica (human) and
Reggie (chowchow)Lenny (human) and
Noodle (Staffordshire
bull terrier cross)