ナショナルジオグラフィックのインスタグラム(natgeo) - 10月14日 04時01分

Photo by @vincentjmusi | Zorro, 2018. Many people envision working in the studio as a high-energy, creative experience with me shouting “beautiful baby, beautiful” and the dogs responding with pose after pose like models before the lens of the famous fashion photographer and international spy, Austin Powers.

The reality is, I’m somewhat unable to speak when making photographs. It’s a genetic flaw or some right brain/left brain quirk realized when I was rejected from my childhood garage band for not being able to sing and play drums at the same time. Damn you Phil Collins.

When we work, this leaves me with a limited menu of grunting noises and the occasional guttural outburst, which I still find helpful in getting an animals attention. It also passes for a kind of barbaric shorthand between my wife Callie and I, until she tires of it and gets mad at me, which she finds helpful in getting my attention.

Zorro is a 12 year-old Standard Poodle, too smart to get in the middle of our bickering. He tried to stay neutral but always sided with Callie. This is often the case with the nice lady holding food and I learn to live with rejection.

This is more frustrating because Zorro is a very special dog that lights up a room when he enters and I want a dog like that to like me.

More caregiver than therapy dog, Zorro has always been there for the people who needed him most, some at the end of their lives and some who would miss those people the most.

Our connection was fleeting and dramatic and came together when I was finally able to vocalize a sound that engaged Zorro.
I was trying to say his name but it came out with a poor rationing of consonants to vowels;
Shtwa -thwo-or-oht-za-moAlshs

This stopped Zorro, deeply engaged with Callie and a snack of some kind, He turned to me, tilted his head and then he gave me -The Eyes; the eyes that had comforted, the eyes that had gotten him out of trouble, the eyes that had earned him more than his fair share of mac and cheese.

And then, Zorro burped.

Beautiful baby, beautiful.

You can find more dispatches from #TheYearOfTheDogs, a personal project by @vincentjmusi

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