TRUE DOG

Photography

Klaus Dyba’s background in art direction and sports comes in handy when working with animals.

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TRUE DOG

WORDS BY Libby Borton

BMX is definitely in Klaus Dyba’s blood. From taking part in freestyle competitions to helping start one of the biggest BMX brands out there, Wethepeople Bike Company, Dyba doesn’t do things by halves. And that’s the same for his new venture, True Dogs Photo. After he saw his creativity evaporating, he decided to hang up his wheels and fine tune his passion for photography. The sidekick to this saviour? A Chihuahua called Rocco. “I was a studio photographer, so I used a lot of flash. After a while I figured out that you have so many different characters when shooting dogs. And with my studio light I could support the characteristics in each shot. I printed images of my Chihuahua at 3 feet by 3 feet and it looked great. I made a big proud dog out of a small scary dog. It felt special and people wanted such images of their own dogs” he explains.

Led by Rocco’s powerful personality, Dyba strayed from the often-kitsch pet portrait in pursuit of something a little different. The Cologne-based photographer captures “everything surrounding people and animals” in his studio, but dogs are a particular passion. Dynamic and lolloping, his dogs are wild and primal. With lolling tongues and bared teeth, bowed heads and wide eyes, each is unexpectedly beautiful. Pets, but not as you know them.

—
truedogsphoto.com
@klausdyba

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