Garry Gross, famed photographer, goes to the dogs

June 5, 10:40 AMShowbiz Pets ExaminerLorraine Goodman

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photo of "Milo" by Garry Gross

For thirty years, Garry Gross was a highly successful fashion photographer in New York , shooting magazine covers for GQ, Cosmopolitan and New York Magazine and celebrities that  included Calvin Klein, Brooke Shields, and Whitney Houston.

Then in 2002, acting on his lifelong love of animals, he attended and graduated from the Animal Behavior Center of New York as a certified dog trainer. Now, Garry is out to marry his two passions: photography and dogs.

“I was reading an article on BF Skinner in Look magazine, and I said to myself, ‘hey, I’m a photographer and I’m a dog trainer. Why can’t I combine the two?’ And I took my first picture [of a dog] and I loved doing it – and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

Garry shoots dogs the way he shoots cosmetic advertising. “I light them the same way I light a beauty photograph. And I focus on getting the personality of the dog through his eyes. There’s eye contact with the viewer. That’s what I’m aiming for.”

Getting the dog to look at the camera can be difficult. “We have to use devices – we lure them, use treats, make noises, or sometimes just come up with trickery. And then just keep shooting till I get the shot. I can take 200, 250. Or I can take 40. It depends on whether the dog is cooperating or not. Sometimes they don’t. They get on the set. The lighting shakes them up. So we do what BF Skinner did: I’ll condition the dog – shoot the strobe and then give them a treat. Strobe / treat, strobe / treat, strobe / treat – to desensitized the dog to the strobe. That’s the advantage of being a dog trainer.” 

What Garry does not do is cutesy pictures, “people hugging their dogs – and rolling off couches and stuff like that. I have nothing against them, “ he adds, “it’s just not my style.”

What Garry is interested in is older dogs. “The older, the better,” he says. “Dogs with soul in their eyes.”

Garry adds, “When people think about dogs, they picture puppies, Frisbees and running in the park – and those are all wonderful things dogs bring to a home. But they don’t think about the dog getting old.”

But such a photograph of your best friend will be something to cherish.

 For more info: Visit Garry's dog photography Website or his Dog Training Site. If you have an older dog and are interested in his “Dogs with Souls in their Eyes” project, you can e-mail Garry a photo of your dog; if it is well-suited, he will arrange a photo session (about three hours in his photo studio). You will receive two beautiful photos of your dog. The initial photo will be an 8 x 10" full-color. Down the road, he can make one for you any size up to 20 x 30.