Photographer Dan Burn-Forti has a way with animals. Our office has never quite seen anyone photograph a dog or a chicken in such an interesting and humorous way before. What made him start photographing animals, and how did he find his inner animal-whisperer?
It all began a few years ago when Esquire Magazine (UK) asked Burn-Forti to shoot a series of the fastest, largest, and most award winning animals for a piece titled "Pedigree Chums". He hadn't really shot animals in particular before, but he instantly grew fond of it. He began shooting more animal pieces here and there- cats for the UK Observer, pigs for the Independent.
Dan Burn-Forti got a big gray Slovakian Rough Haired Pointer named Billy six years ago (she sadly passed away last year). She had a ridiculous face and a natural poise for the camera. Burn-Forti began photographing her more and more and included her in fashion stories for Quarterly and Esquire magazines and was even the face for a Hills pet food campaign. The photographs of Billy seemed to elicit great joy and inspiration from people, and they began considering Burn-Forti more and more as an "animal photographer".
As with any photo shoot, both models and animals can be difficult and things can always go wrong. I asked Burn-Forti if anything has ever gone drastically wrong on any of his animal shoots. He replied, "I must admit that most of the animal shoots I've done have gone pretty smoothly, with not too many disasters. However, I was shooting a campaign for the Dogs Trust last year and an over enthusiastic bulldog ran headfirst into a 6 foot mirror which fell over and smashed. Luckily the pooch was unharmed, although he will now have to suffer the 7 years bad luck. I’m not sure how long that’ll be in dog years though…."
