Catherine Johnson is Chair of the Photography Committee of the National Arts Club in New York. She began her career in photography representing British photographer Norman Parkinson in North America. She has edited two books, STIEGLITZ AND THE PHOTO-SECESSION 1902 (2002), and KARL BISSINGER: THE LUMINOUS YEARS (2003).

****

William Wegman is the world's best-known photographer of dogs, having collaborated with his beloved Weimaraners throughout his career. Wegman's photographs are in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art; and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, among many others. His photos and videos have also appeared in books, advertisements, films, and on television programmes worldwide.

This volume presents amateur, anonymous snapshots of dogs from the turn of the century to the early 1950s in all kinds of ordinary and extraordinary settings. In it, we see dogs under the Christmas table, on front porches, at play by the beach, and posed beside babies, birthday girls, and in the casual family portrait. Each photograph in this remarkable collection reflects a unique moment in time and the sometimes surprising, occasionally humorous, and always intimate relationships people have with their dogs. Catherine Johnson's collection - with its small format, unpretentious subjects, and days-gone-by aesthetic - not only reveals a love for 'man's best friend', but also presents a sophisticated selection made with a keen eye for the unusual within mundane.