Impact

GIMME BEAUTIFUL SHELTER

by Mary Shannon Johnstone. Photo from Landfill Dogs series.

Shelter dogs are no different from your dogs, except that they are not loved by anyone. Today, we are focusing on two photographers who aim to change that with portraits of undeniable beauty and power.

MARY SHANNON JOHNSTONE

Photographer Mary Shannon Johnstone has produced an ongoing series, called Landfill Dogs, which drives the point and the poignancy right home.

Each week, Johnstone brings one dog from the Wake County Animal Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, to a local landfill, where she photographs them as they run, play, and ponder. We see joy in their temporary freedom.

We see a flicker of hope in their soulful eyes and wagging tails. And our hearts begin to break at the realization that the landfill will soon become their final resting place if they cannot find shelter in someone’s home.

Johnstone hopes that the people who see her photos see the beauty in these homeless, unloved creatures and she hopes they are moved to adopt -- to give the dogs one last chance at a happy life. She also hopes to inspire people to take more responsibility for the animal overpopulation problem by spaying and neutering their animals to reduce the number of unwanted births.

Please visit the Landfill Dogs Facebook page, to see more of Johnstone’s photos. They are divided into three albums - Never Found a Home, Landfill Dogs Who are Still Looking for Homes, and Landfill Dogs Who Have Recently Found Homes.

TRAER SCOTT

Imagine standing behind a camera and snapping images of dogs you know only have days left on this earth. That is exactly what photographer Traer Scott did. Snapping raw images of shelter dogs, using only the natural light, Scott's work feels pure and soulful.

Scott has never volunteered at a shelter. But, when she began photographing and writing for a monthly magazine called 'The Animal Print,' her first assignment led her to a program conducted by Brown University in Canine Behavior.

The crux of the program was to teach volunteers how to train dogs living in shelters. Scott’s involvement with the program soon became a personal one. She has dogs of her own and couldn’t imagine seeing them in an animal shelter, facing near death.

At least 20% of the shelter dog population are pit bulls, some as many as 80%.

They have a bad rap so are often not adoptable and are usually euthanized. Scott’s photos aim to show these dogs a more favorable light.

Scott received hundreds of emails over the years from fellow dog lovers, volunteers, and animal welfare workers who have been inspired by her message and her images. Some have adopted dogs, others have volunteered at shelters.

Scott’s bestselling book, 'Shelter Dogs,' features 50 photos that are sure to leave an imprint in your memory. Her new book will be released in September 2015. It will feature 35 portraits of dogs along with their brief bios. It will also follow 6 dogs along their journey from the shelter into their new loving homes.

All proceeds from Scott’s books will go towards the non-profit organization ASPCA.

GIMME SHELTER

Oh, a storm is threat'ning

My very life today

If I don't get some shelter

Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away

I tell you love, sister, it's just a kiss away

It's just a kiss away

Kiss away, kiss away

– Gimme Shelter. Lyrics by the Rolling Stones.

Enter your own images and ideas about Beautiful Shelters in this week’s creative Photo Competition. Open for entries now until 11:59 p.m. PT on 12.07.2014. If you are reading this after that date, check out the current BN Creative Competition, and enter!