Sally Andersen-Bruce knew that word of her personal photo project was really getting out when a limousine from Manhattan arrived at her studio in New Milford, CT. In the back of the car were two Airedale Terriers — and no people.
“The owners heard that I was looking for Airedales who were rescue dogs,” she said, “so they sent their dogs out in a limo.”
Andersen-Bruce has been photographing shelter and rescue pets as a personal project since working on the Neuter or Spay stamp release in 2002. “As I was shooting those portraits, I felt such a strong connection,” she remembers. “I realized that these animals can’t talk, and someone needed to get the message out. So I kept coming back and taking portraits.”
In the years since, Andersen-Bruce has photographed hundreds of dogs and cats. So when the opportunity came along to shoot photographs for the Animal Rescue: adopt a shelter pet stamps, she jumped at the chance. For the project, she photographed 50 dogs and 50 cats, to gain maximize flexibility in the design phase. “For me it was a dream project,” she says. “If someone said I could shoot anything in the whole world, I would probably choose this. It’s just a passion.”
And she has embraced the cause in other ways. Her current dog is a rescue pet — an Irish Setter who was once a show dog. Andersen-Bruce’s primary job is as a commercial photographer, traveling the world to shoot executive portraits and other photographs for annual reports and similar corporate publications. And she’s learned that corporate CEOs and shelter pets share a common attribute: a short attention span.
“I approach my animals exactly as I would a CEO,” she says. “I try to get them comfortable, give them flattering lighting and make a great photograph as quickly as possible.”
Keeping an animal still for a portrait is often a challenge. Usually a human is involved; the next challenge, then, involves removing the human from the photo afterward. Since the stamp project shows the pets against a white background, Andersen-Bruce solved this by employing white gloves and a white bed sheet, which was easily faded into the background of the portrait.
Over the years, she has developed deep connections with shelters and rescue groups, who often call to let her know that a “great face” has just arrived. She always conducts photo shoots with a shelter manager or animal-control officer present, as proof that no cruelty or abuse is taking place.
In cases where a shelter animal has been adopted since its photo was taken, the owner often attends the shoot, which can create problems: Wandering around the studio causes the pet to focus on the owner rather than the camera. “As a rule,” the photographer acknowledges, “training the owners is a lot tougher than training the pets.”
Andersen-Bruce hopes to publish two books of rescue and shelter pet portraits — one each for dogs and cats. Until then, and likely after, she will continue her search for the next “great face” on four paws.