Shelter dogs

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