In 2006 I did some photography is support of Pink Ribbon Day. A lady I had met was raising funds for this very worthwhile cause by selling little stuffed toys which were replicas of her Black Standard Poodle, named Miss Chloe. I had travelled to Louise’s house to photograph Miss Chloe with 100 poodle toys. One of these days I’ll post those photos, but for the time being, here is her son hamming it up for the camera.
In January 2007 I travelled to India for two weeks and in that time I took literally thousands of photos of dogs. I knew before I left that I was undertaking a personal photographic project during my time in India, I just wasn’t sure what form it would take. As soon as I arrived it became obvious to me that I would focus on the dogs of India. They were numerous, they were everywhere and in most cases they provided great environmental portrait opportunities.
This particular photograph was taken in a town called Orchha in rural India. This small boy is an orphan and I crossed paths with him a number of times during my couple of days in town. I saw this scene as I was walking through the marketplace and within two seconds I had my camera out and the image captured. Once second later, he let go of one of the puppies, and that moment was gone forever.
This is one of my favourite photos ever. It is representative of my experiences in India and it was the image which set me upon my path of using my photography to make the world a better place. The photo was entered into the World Vision Art4Aid Award. I didn’t think it had a chance of actually winning as previous winners have been artistic works which translated easily to posters. I was extremely surprised and pleased, however, to be told that the photo had won the people’s choice award. To me that means that my image touched people and made them think….and that’s what it’s all about.