The Story
How the icons came to be
I didn't set out to photograph London.
I set out to understand dogs.
That began with strays, and it has never really left me.
There was no plan in it. Just small moments.
A dog called Cashew, in Cuba, who chose to sit beside me when she didn't have to.
That changed something in me. I started to see dogs differently. Not as subjects, but as individuals. Each with their own pace, their own history, their own quiet dignity.
I carried that with me when I came home.
I have photographed dogs from rescue shelters, and dogs from grand London residences. The dignity is the same in both.
A rescue dog and a titled family's dog have asked the same thing of me, every time. To be seen properly. To be photographed as who they are, not what they represent.
That belief is where the Iconic Dogs of London began.
every dog was born an icon
a city of icons
London is full of icons. Big Ben. The Mall. St Paul's. Buildings that have watched this city for centuries.
It occurred to me that the dogs of London belong in that company too.
Not visiting the city. Living in it. Claiming it, in their own small, dignified way.
So I started placing them there. In the doorways, the squares, the parade grounds London is known for.
Not as a novelty. As a portrait of something I already believed to be true.
Every dog was born an icon. I'm simply giving them the backdrop to prove it.
recognition, quietly received
This work has been recognised in ways I'm genuinely grateful for, including being named Pet Photographer of the Year at the British Photography Awards.
It is something I hold with appreciation, though the work itself has never really been about recognition. It always comes back to the dogs.
If you'd like a portrait of your own dog, taken in their own moment rather than against a London landmark, that's a different piece of work I do under Raven Imagery.