Interview, a photo from Ontario, Central

Photographer's Note

Inspired by our own Viviane Faguay and a magnum photographer Elliott Erwitt I have finally decided to take a stab at combining my two passions, dogs and photography.

In my attempts I will not try to show pictures of dogs, but will try to present pictures with dogs in them.

In Northern America dogs are a big part of our society, they aren't just dogs or animals, they are companions and family members. Many of them lead a wonderfull life as part of a family, taking part in many of our activities, in some cases this is taken to the extreme and they are treated like barbie dolls wearing designer clothes or having their fur coloured. There is also other extreme where thousands of them are abused, neglected, some used for dog fighting or other criminal activities, thousands are euthanized in shelters each year simply because there is noone to claim them. On one hand there is a small group of hobby breeders trying to produce the best specimen possible for a breed, on the other hands we have some businesses mass produce them just like chickens to have them sold in petshops.
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This image during the rally protest against provincial government banning certain breeds.

Porteplume, quantabeh, robiuk, elena has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Peeotr (2228) 2005-03-06 11:22

I like the composition, your photo is also full of action. I'm not sure for the processing you used (quite strong), but like the photo.

Piotr

Porteplume (4036) 2005-03-06 12:00

Wow! It's the first time I have inspired someone [I guess?] and I feel really proud, even blushing! :o))) - but you & Sohrab were the ones who attended me on the possibility of the picture.

The composition works, especially because of the strong contrast and the depth you suggested by including the camera man in the very first foreground, the reporter and her guest in the second plan and the blurry crowd in the background.
I maybe just regret that we actually don't see much of the dogs, it would have been nice to see the right dog looking aside.

* I think you forgot a < before your link to make it work?

quantabeh (5205) 2005-03-06 12:33

Hi Peter. It's a very rich composition, no doubt. Lot's of details in this photo. I actually heard this piece of news on CBC last weekend. It's unfortunate in my opinion, because I believe, in a lot of cases, the owners themsleves are irresponsible, not the dogs and most of the incidents that happen can be avoided, if people actually used some common sense.
anyways, good documentry photo, really!
regards,
Behrang

toni_al (15875) 2005-03-06 12:57

Tr鋀s belle composition.
Bravo
Toni

Ania_Madina (628) 2005-03-06 15:14

Wow and nothing more to say. I think this photo is such great that even there's not need of note...it's saying by itself. Well composed. Great catched. It looks very very well.

robiuk (10807) 2005-03-06 17:18

I like your b/w that shows some fine tones, Peter.
It also shows the gathering was successful and even covered in media - that's about the importance of it.
Good POV showing professionals in action. WOnder if dogs were disturbed by the presence of so many human participants of the protest...
Good start of the series (along with the previous post) - looking forward to seeing more,
Robi

sandip (3492) 2005-03-07 0:09

A very strong composition in black and white here.good perpective and a good note.

elena (1054) 2005-03-07 12:44

very original way of showing dogs in a picture, it looks like a documentary street photo, similar to some i browsed yesterday @ magnum and at photoblog.org... i like the BW option, i think it would have been a bit crowded in color, plus there are many black elements anyway, and the blond woman dressed in a light suit helped keep the photo balanced. She is a bit too centered...
the grain looks nice too.

RandomCameraGuy (3071) 2005-03-08 22:54

Nice high contrast shot Peter. I can't remember, but I think they passed that law right?

You did a good job of capturing this crowded scene. I like that you chose to focus on the man in the foreground. The interviewer looks a little hesitant here, think it's b/c of the pitt bull or the guy? ;-)

Cheers!

af

joseelias (0) 2005-03-09 9:13

Very nice documentary shot. Not only the event is interesting but also your POV show how controversial this is by the presence of the TV. Excellent framing of the cameraman. I just miss some more sharpness on the reporter and interviewed man.

I must say I agree with restrictions regarding these animals. It𠏋 a non-sense to have them as companion animals as they were developed, and genetically selected along times to be as aggressive as possible and able to produce fatal attacks. They are work and even war-combat animals and should be used as that.

But the biggest problem are the owners which many times don㦙 know how to control and educate them. And this has produced several fatal attacks here in Portugal already including children.

Also saying that the animals are not to blame in these attacks but the owners I agree. The problem is that we cannot control over who is responsible to have an animal like this or not. And after someone gets killed there are no excuses, arguments or theories that gives that person his life back� Personally I think that the ownership of these breeds here in Portugal should be controlled in a similar way as gun-fires are controlled. Only with a specific purpose and psychological test.

I𠐔e recently saw a fight between a pit-bull and a bulldog in a public park with children around where the owner of the bulldog got afraid to get near the dogs and only the pit-bull owner was able to control the fight with some danger to himself�

tontonjc (6623) 2005-03-09 12:59

Elle est cool celle l�. Il y � vraiment de tout dans cette photo

Bravo et superbe id嶪

MoosicMan (1231) 2005-03-11 9:54

Nice shot, Peter,
Interesting choice to focus on the back of the cameraman's head instead of the interviewer and interviewee. Your note adds a lot, too.
Keep 'em coming,
Good luck
Matt

teta5 (1203) 2005-03-16 8:51