Sophie Gamand will be discussing her portrait series about wet dogs, which recently won the Sony World Photography Award, her thought process behind it and how she actually shot these quirky portraits of our furry friends.
Presenters: Sophie Gamand Bill Hunt
Location: Brooklyn Bridge Park – Pier 5 Uplands
Presented by:
Sophie Gamand will be discussing her portrait series about wet dogs, which recently won the Sony World Photography Award, her thought process behind it and how she actually shot these quirky portraits of our furry friends.
Sophie explains, “The word “pet” has been referred to as “the indulged child”, as early as the 15th Century. A big city like New York, a place not primarily designed for animals, seems to emphasize the idea that the nature of our favorite companions has been engineered to fit the human lifestyle. Are dogs still animals? Or are they the new children of a human community that grows increasingly disconnected? In many cases, dogs are social anchors and sometimes replace spouses, children, friends. They have become the center of the home, around which everything – and sometimes everyone – revolves. Has this special treatment influenced the way dogs behave and interact with humans? Has our codependent relationship to dogs changed their nature? Moreover, what does this bond reveal about our own social challenges and solitude?”
Next to discussing her latest series, which gained such recognition, she will also be talk about how she got to that point, winning the Sony Award and getting a book deal, so listen up for some tips on how to advance your career.
We claim dogs are our best friends. But are we really acting like theirs?
Originally from France, Sophie moved to New York City in 2010. There, she began a passionate quest to better understand dogs and their place in human societies. Photography (portraiture and documentary) became her main means of exploring that world. Portraiture in particular, had always been a way for Sophie to create intimacy with her subjects. Battling social anxiety, Sophie found in dogs a more natural relationship, not encumbered by words and misunderstanding. Or so she thought.
Soon, she stepped into the world of animal shelters, and uncovered the many ways in which dogs are misunderstood and silenced. Not just in the world of rescue, but in our daily lives as well. Working with dogs meant she had a responsibility to serve the most vulnerable of them, and help humans become better guardians. This led Sophie on a journey to not only photograph thousands of shelter dogs around the United States, including for her world-renowned project Pit Bull Flower Power, but also to get involved with communities around the world, photographing free-ranging dogs in rural Ecuador or Moldova, or those trapped in the dog meat trade in South Korea where she created an impactful awareness campaign.
Sophie leveraged her incredibly popular Wet Dog and Pit Bull Flower Power series, which garnered large social media followings, to shine a light on at-risk dogs around the world, and raise funds for the nonprofits that care for them.
After over a decade in rescue advocacy, Sophie became ordained as an animal chaplain, to further her commitment to dogs and humans in a way that combines her art and purpose. Now living in Los Angeles, she is focusing on her multidisciplinary art career and dreams of exhibits bridging art with science and other disciplines. Her topics of interest are rooted in ecofeminism, highlighting the intersection between the way we treat our natural world (with dogs as a magnifier) and women or other vulnerable groups. These days, you will find her at the ceramic studio, creating hand-stitched embroideries, cyanotypes, paintings, or all sorts of installations. And of course, at the local shelter where she hosts an emotional support group for volunteers, and still photographs adoptable dogs.
The World Photography Organisation (WPO) supports professional, amateur and student photography, lending a global platform for the industry to communicate, congregate and showcase current trends in all genres of photography. Within the WPO portfolio are the Sony World Photography Awards, Student Focus, The Magazine and the most recent addition, Photo Shanghai.
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