Walter Chandoha

<p>The world appears to be divided into cat and dog lovers, but fortunately <strong>Walter Chandoha</strong>,<strong> the 20th century’s greatest pet photographer</strong> found himself happily in the middle. He loved these intriguing creatures equally for their unique beauty and individualism, and as subjects to photograph in a career spanning over 70 years. While working on his critically acclaimed TASCHEN book <em>Cats</em>, <strong>Chandoha handpicked his favorite dog photos</strong> for a potential follow-up title, putting into carefully marked boxes hundreds of contact sheets, prints, and color transparencies,<strong> many unseen for at least 50 years, and some totally unseen</strong>.<br /><br /> Chandoha sadly passed away in 2019 at the age of 98, but his legacy lives on in this <strong>dashing sequel dedicated to man’s best friend</strong>. “Walter Chandoha’s photographs of dogs are compelling not just because dogs have an inherent charm, but because the person behind the camera was a master of his craft,” writes the photography critic Jean Dykstra in the book’s introduction.<br /><br /> We see terriers, collies, beagles, bloodhounds, poodles, small dogs, big dogs, show dogs, working dogs, and many more, <strong>featuring over 60 breeds</strong> photographed in both black-and-white and glorious Kodachrome.<br /><br /><strong>Spanning a 50-year period</strong>, the book is divided into six sections, and each chapter reveals Chandoha’s exceptional combination of technique, versatility, and soul. The opening chapter <strong>“In the Studio”</strong> focuses on formal portraiture; next it’s <strong>“Strike a Pose”</strong> where our canine companions ham it up for the camera; in <strong>“Out and About”</strong> they get to roam and play, often photographed with Chandoha’s own children; next it’s <strong>“Best in Show”</strong> with Chandoha using his reportage skills to capture vintage dog shows from the Mad Men era; in <strong>“Tails from the City</strong>,<strong>”</strong> the dogs are hitting the streets of mid-century New York; and in the closing chapter <strong>“Country Dogs</strong>,<strong>”</strong> it’s back to nature, the fields, and the beaches. <em>Dogs</em> is an unleashed photographic tribute to these lovable and loyal creatures.</p>