English Mastiff

Good Groot, why the long face? Throughout my years of photographing animals, one of the most enduring themes has been our human propensity to see ourselves in the eyes of our animals. But, one thing I’ve discovered, is that dogs, too, learn to recognize our facial expressions. As humans, we automatically attempt to personify a dog’s facial features by defining them in ways that we personally relate to and understand. Dogs, on the contrary, learn the various meanings of our furrowed brows and playful smiles, in the context of other meaningful cues-- the tone of our voice, our offerings of affection or the lack thereof. They truly learn, over time, what each subtle expression communicates, from a purely unbiased place.