subscribe 0330 333 1113 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I 13 July 2019 27
CANINE-HUMAN PORTRAITSout for participants.’ Logistically, it
had to be the dogs that were scouted
first – with Gerrard having an idea
of the particular breeds he wanted
to include, owing to popularity and
variation of looks. ‘You’ve got to get
an Afghan hound, a Hungarian
puli, a Dalmation, a French bulldog,’
he says reeling off the list with ease.
‘You’ve got to have a labrador
because they’re so popular, as well
as a pug because they’ve got a great
look. You’ve got to have a husky
because they’re so beautiful.’
Personally, as a dog owner myself,
I’m disappointed to discover there
was no dachshund in the mix –
but apparently there is a practical
reason for it, which made sense the
second I heard it. ‘We couldn’t get
one in the game because the ears
become a thing – no one [human]
has ears like that and they are such
a feature. It’s a shame because
they’re great-looking dogs – we had
the same problem with the bassett
hound. I wanted one of those but
it’s the same sort of thing – they
have giant ears and nobody looks
like that.’
In total, Gerrard was tasked with
finding 25 dogs, all of which had to
look sufficiently different from each
other so that when matched with
the humans they wouldn’t be too
similar. After the initial ‘must shoot’
list had been fulfilled, it came down
to spotting dogs with an interesting
shape – ‘It turns out a schnauzer
has a great square beard,’ Gerrard
recalls. ‘It wasn’t on the list, but
I saw this guy, a Turkish guy
who works in a shop near meSophie (human) and
Percy (pug)Henry (human) and
Hope (Afghan hound)Benji (human) and
Harper (schnoodle)