Four

In dogs we trust

BY Mel Cousipetcos and Campbell Boyer, December 7, 2011

Will Robson-Scott is a London-based photographer whose defining attribute is his ability to represent those on the fringes – and he does it well.

Robson-Scott’s work gives the impression that he’s just as adept working with people as he is working the camera. Gaining entry and permission to record notoriously illusive and private sub-cultures can’t be easy (and isn’t always safe). A high level of mutual trust and empathy has to be fostered. This is the ingredient that transforms simply looking at a photo into witnessing an honest moment of human exchange. Considering this, it’s not surprising that Robson-Scott’s In Dogs We Trust project perfectly captures the understanding and unity between dog and owner.

Talking to a guy who describes his work as ‘taking photos of people who don’t want their photo taken’, am I possibly interviewing a person who doesn’t want to be interviewed?
No the opposite, it’s very flattering to be asked about your work, I just don’t like to over elaborate.

What do you love about the kind of work you do?
Photography is a passport to any situation you want access to, that and moving image are great mediums to explore situations and meet people that would normally be alien. Travelling is also a massive plus and getting paid is nice aswell.

Is there anything you don’t like about it? 
There is nothing I can complain about with my personal work, doing commissions can be testing at times and waiting to get paid can be infuriating.

I’ve always imagined it difficult to approach people asking to take their picture. How do you go about it/developing some sort of rapport with your subject? 
With long term projects I usually have a personal connection however tenuous and just persist, I still have difficulty approaching people on the street, but its one of those obstacles you have to overcome if thats the sort of photography you want to pursue; with long term projects I also have a personal interest in whichever subject I’m focusing on, if you are not interested you are not going to make anything of any interest.

Where is the most interesting place the In Dogs We Trust project has taken you?
Shooting Martin Parr and his dog Ruby was a bit nerve racking but he was pleasant and understanding about it, he also used one of shots for a book he did, which was very flattering. Going to a Double S kennels in Compton was great aswell, the pits or bully dogs as they’re called out there are the monsters trucks off dogs, also watching an attack trained American Pitbull in action was eye opening.

Did any of the subjects/their stories stand out?
I shot jewellery designer BiJules and another photographer Allessandro Zuek with their dog in NYC, they had been kicked out an apartment because the building had a no dogs rules and a few weeks later the whole building burnt to the ground.

Did you find people from different places/cultures have different relationships with their dogs, or is the whole dynamic pretty universal? 
Yes it differs a lot, some dogs on the West Coast of American are not so much pets but more objects of desire, a lot of them are kept in cages and bred to maximise their features to amount freakish extremes. Crufts (the dog show) was also insane, people were actually a bit stand offish as they were obviously aware of being shown in a certain light, I have had no bad experiences though, and I strongly believe their are no bad dogs just bad owners. I think universally there is a bond between dog and human.

How has your kind of ‘reportage’ style developed? Deliberately? Naturally?
What got me interested in photography was traditional reportage, the idea of telling a story or trying to expose something hidden is still what drives my work but I try and develop and mature my work, otherwise it gets a bit stagnant.

If you turned the camera on yourself, what would we see?
A slowly greying caucasian male in a shirt.

Do you have a dog of your own? If you answer yes – are you alike?
Yes, Rusty, a cairn terrier, I hope I’m as full of beans as him and I hope he’s not as cynical as me.

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Photography by Will Robson-Scott (in conjunction with Olly Grove)
See the complete series and more of Will’s brilliant work here

Tags Collection, London, Photography, Portrait, Reportage, Will Robson-Scott