The Shelter dogs project was part of the specialization phase of my photography education at the Fotovakschool. It almost fell through, because at first, my teacher François Hendricks didn´t like the idea of photographing shelter dogs in their own environment. He feared that the interior of most shelters, with a lot of concrete and old tiles, would be too distracting. Fortunately, sometimes I´m a bit stubborn, so I wanted to give it a try anyway. Therefore, I did a test shoot with my own dog, Small Münsterländer Joep in the bathroom. Joep didn’t like being there, because he hated taking a bath, so he gave me a really sad look, just like a shelter dog. That was exactly what I needed. When François saw this picture, he immediately changed his mind and told me to continue with the project.

I ended up photographing dogs at shelters in Gouda, Krimpen a/d Ijssel, Vlaardingen and Zoetermeer