Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 51, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 January 1884 — Photographing Dogs and Babies. [ARTICLE]

Photographing Dogs and Babies.

The artist was a heavy-eyed man; his hair was nnkempt, hi 3 scarf was disarranged, and his coat-sleeves were turned up. He looked weary. “I have just been attempting to fix a baby’s attention,” he said, in an explanatory tone, “by throwing handsprings behind the camera. When I showed the negative to the mother she made the inevitable observation that the face laoked expression. Can you put expression on the surface of a lump of damp putty?” "Is it easier to photograph dogs than babies ?” “Oh, a thousand times. Yon can fix a dog’s attention and hold it for a time without difficulty. Then,, dogs’ faces are more or less expressive. None of them has the look of stupidity that the average baby wears except the pug. Pug dogs, by the way, are the easiest to take. All you have to do is to put them in front of the camera and they go to sleep at once. The most difficult dog I ever struggled with was an Italian greyhound. It was a delicate and extremely sensitive little creature, and endowed with almost human intelligence. It couldn’t keep its shadowy legs still half a second to save its life. We worked half a day, and succeeded at length in making a picture that was half satisfactory." “Do you photograph many dogs ?” “About2oo a year. The work is done by a few specialists. The big photographers won’t bother with dogs. —New York Sun.