A photographer's inventive dog portraits show just how human-like our pets can be
Zoë Ettinger
- Belinda Richards is a professional pet photographer from Melbourne, Australia.
- In 2018, she was inspired by a dog's human-like appearance after one of her photo shoots, and she decided to Photoshop the portrait to add a narrative.
- "The look on the dog's face had such a human-like expression, it was so emotive, and had such a good connection with the camera," Richards said.
Australian pet photographer Belinda Richards created her award-winning series "Be More Dog" after a particularly inspiring photo shoot in 2018.
After shooting a typical dog portrait one day, Richards was struck by the "human-like" expression on the dog's face. She told Insider she decided that "the image needed more narrative," and after months of Photoshopping, she had created "It's A Catastrophe!"
The image won her the Emerging Photographer of the Year Award at the Australian Institute of Professional Photography Awards for its strong narrative and cultural commentary on gender roles and the #MeToo movement.
The photo launched the rest of her "Be More Dog" series, which "is intended as a humorous exploration and commentary of current events, social constructs, and ideology using animals as the stand in for people," she said.
Take a look at photos from the adorable, thought-provoking, and award-winning series, Be More Dog.
In "It's A Catastrophe!" a dog reads a newspaper about cats taking over the world. The photo is a commentary on the #MeToo movement.
The first photo in Richards' Be More Dog series started when she noticed a human-like expression on the dog's face, which inspired her to Photoshop a top hat, glasses, and a newspaper to further the human narrative.
Richards said she chose to "have this story in the newspaper where cats have taken over the world and the dogs are no longer in charge." She explained that "generally when we speak of cats and dogs we speak of dogs as men and cats as women." The image "was juxtapositioned to what was going on in the world at the time with the #MeToo movement," she said.
Her "Bagpuss 2020" photo is a play on Donald Trump's infamous "Access Hollywood" comments. On the podium it says, "Grabbing Back!"
"Some images investigate important contemporary issues such as feminism, patriarchy and world politics, while other take a lighter look at social hierarchy and current trends," Richards said on her website.
For "Dog's Honour," featuring a dog named Opie, Richards took inspiration from Norman Rockwell's Boy Scout portraits for Boys' Life magazine.
"I looked at the covers he used to do for Boy's Life magazine, which is from the Scouts, years and years ago," she said. "Basically it's exactly the same as what the Boy Scouts' law is: a Boy Scout is loyal, trustworthy, friendly, etc. It's a bit of a play on how we are raising our boys to be men, and how we could possibly go back to some of those basic attributes to teach our kids to grow up to be better men."
"The Queen's Corgi" is more of a "humorous take on how we treat and see our dogs," Richards said.
"We all know that the Queen of England has had corgis for years and years. It's also a social hierarchy thing, we've got the cat looking down from the bottom thinking, 'Why don't I get treated this way?' which is another play on the male-female social hierarchy," she said.
"In a lot of my images I pop some 'cookies' that you've got to find. On the wine bottle here, it's made by Scaredy Cat Wines, and the volume is 17% because women get paid 17% less than men. Little things like that help you explore the image and create the narrative," she said.
"When Will I Be Famous?" was inspired by Instagram-famous dogs and their huge social media followings.
Frankie, the French bulldog, stars in the photo. "As a dog photographer I am constantly on Instagram looking at these Insta-famous dogs, which I find quite humorous, how much of a following they have," Richards said.
"Frankie here is at the Insta dog awards and he is being revered by his peers just like the way we do with our celebrities on the Oscars red carpet. The dog Buckie, looking back at the crowd, is where the title comes from; he wants to be famous like his idol, Frankie," she said.
"Electronic Dog Music" is just a "humorous play on current trends and the hipster movement," Richards said.
Richards wanted to create a hipster-looking dog by having a "long beard, glasses, and a beanie," she said.
"Retirement" features Ms. Patches, a retired racing greyhound. "Racing greyhounds have a really tough life," Richards said.
When Ms. Patches came into Richards' studio, she knew that she was an older dog who'd had a tough life, though "she's now living her best life with her new family," Richards said.
"When they came in for a portrait she just kind of plopped down and gave me this vacant stare, and that's when I decided to pop the form guide in the background to give a narrative on what the racing industry does to our beloved companions," she said.
READ MORE ARTICLES ON
Popular Right Now
Popular Keywords
Advertisement