Dylan Collard – Living With Dogs for Guardian Saturday Magazine
Living With Dogs, a project and photobook by Dylan Collard examining the UK’s domestic bond with dogs, is featured on the front cover of The Guardian Saturday Magazine.
See below for an excerpt from the cover story, and read the full article in print and online here.
“Collard’s photographs are a rich tapestry of British dog owners. In two years, he took shots of 95 people and 225 dogs in their homes. Roles, responsibilities and routines vary in each household, which contain anything from supersized, seriously competitive packs to more casual single companions.
From London to Penzance, we see the dog-inflected interior lives of former army commandos, Crufts veterans, musicians and yoga teachers. Inspired by Martin Parr’s diaristic 1990s portraits of people in their living rooms, Collard would set up his tripod in living rooms, kitchens and conservatories, and let the dogs dictate the tableaux. He says: “I wanted it to feel genuine, rather than fixated on the perfect shot.”
The images prompted reflection. “I saw how much people change their lives for their dogs; how you see and move through the world with them; how you holiday and go to the pub. You have less flexibility, but you have access to a whole other view on life.”
Many of the dogs photographed have since had litters of their own or died, and packs have grown and shrunk – the series is as much a historical tribute as it is a living project.”
