Twelve Dogs

Jo Longhurst © Twelve Dogs Twelve Bitches

For several years Jo Longhurst worked with dog breeders, exploring the obsessive quest for the perfect dog. The artist with his work is exploring the history and practice of photographic portraiture and the concept of visual perfection showing the "evolution of the visual image of the Whippet, and the construction of human identity through the shaping of the figure of the dog".

Jo Longhurst © The Refusal

Jo Longhurst says in a statement that his "study of the Whippet foregrounds the intimate relationship between human and animal, and the increasing significance of photographic technologies in the development of human identity. Twelve dogs, twelve bitches is the establishing piece of an extensive body of work, The Refusal, which foregrounds the intimate relationship between human and animal, and the increasing significance of photographic technologies in the development of human identity.