10 years of stolen iPhone photos of dogs. We follow the author's life and peregrinations, the constancy of a singular passion and the evolution of phones, all with images that are still modest, but constitute a substantial sum—1000 images in 384 flip book pages, with the Instragram scroll effect.
Since 2013, I have been sharing photos and other representations of dogs on Instagram at an irregular yet consistent pace. These images, devoid of intention or status, were captured and posted in the moment, without filters or retouching, with only minimal adjustment to square and potentially crop them. None of them required permission and posing was never requested; they were often captured unnoticed.
They aren't sought after, searched for-they evoke no expectations and aren't meant to be reused in any way. They are not based on any prior observation, subterfuge, or collaboration. Dogs pass by, or simply happen to be there. I photograph them, without showing myself, without approaching, without leaning in, often without aiming.
The dogs remain unidentified. Most are unknown to me. Some returned randomly over the years. Humans appear only as silhouettes or fragments-a leg, a back, a hand holding a leash. Sometimes, the backgrounds are recognizable or locatable, sometimes not.
The ability of these little characters to evoke and express empathy touches me profoundly. The sequence of our fleeting, unexpected, sometimes forgotten encounters forms the private diary of a decade, in which nothing personal is ever revealed.
Martin Bethenod
A journalist, publisher and exhibition curator, Martin Bethenod (born 1966) has held a number of positions within major public and private cultural institutions. Delegate for the visual arts at the French Ministry of Culture from 2002 to 2004, he was General Director of the FIAC from 2005 to 2009, before heading the Pinault Collection museums in Venice and Paris (Palazzo Grassi, Punta della Dogana and the Bourse de Commerce) from 2010 to 2021.
