Dog walking urban shoot in Midsteeple Quarter

With all the recent Midsteeple Quarter revival activities it seemed appropriate to publish a previously unblogged dog walking urban shoot with the lovely Julie, Neil, Meg and their dogs Toby and Juno in the area.

I guess it was John who came up with a dog and their owners theme for this Urban Portraits Dumfries project session. He kept saying how dog-loving Dumfries was and how many dog walkers he saw in the town centre. We even played a dog counting game whenever we went in on foot and I started the Urban Dogs Pinterest board for some research and inspiration.

With Julie and Co I wanted to explore photographically the concept of family walking and playing with their dogs in an urban setting. I wanted to show how Toby and Juno behaved on the streets of Dumfries and how integrated they became into the very fabric of the family. I tried to focus on the affection lavished on these pets and their reactions to High Street locations, around the Midsteeple and in the nearby closes.

We admired the confident trick-performing Toby and sympathised with the permanently trembling, high-strung Juno. Neil did a good job making Toby show off his skills and calming the little Juno. She looked so cute in her fur coat!

Julie wanted a family portrait taken outside the toastie shop owned by a friend. Then we came across the red-coloured wall with some graffiti nearby and used it as an urban grunge element for Julie’s portraits.

Looking back at the photos from this session it is amazing how the area has changed since – graffiti cleaned up, new mural painted in the close where Meg cuddles Juno and the Starbucks signature green transformed into black!