Kerry Martin with her beloved dogs Summer and Keiki during a visit to the National Arboretum in Canberra. She is heading to southern NSW later this month to photograph dogs for a new book. Photo: Jeremy Byrnes.
Every time Kerry Martin photographs a dog, something good happens.
It’s not just about capturing a moment in the dog’s life that its human will treasure – although that’s a big part of it – a percentage of funds raised from her business, Puppy Tales, helps so many others. The fact that she’s doing her dream job also helps.
Kerry, her partner Sam, and their dog Scout are just about to take to the road in their caravan, travelling around southern NSW, photographing dogs for a coffee table-style book of dog portraits, Dog Tales of Australia 2: Pawtraits. It’s her second book; the first was more a guide to travelling with dogs.
Funds raised from the project will support Assistance Dogs Australia, a national not-for-profit organisation which helps train assistance dogs for people with disabilities.
“I have the best job in the world,” Kerry, a former officer in the Royal Australian Navy said. “You’re so blessed if you have a job you love doing.”
Kerry, who has been photographing dogs and their humans for about 16 years, said her grandmother inspired her passion for the craft.
“Do you remember those little flip albums?” she said. “Well, my grandmother had hundreds of them and loved going through them with us saying, ‘Do you remember this and do you remember that?’.
“I think that really shaped things for me. When I was in the Navy we travelled a lot and I remember thinking I want to remember these places I’d go to. You’d go somewhere like Papua New Guinea and you wanted to keep those memories with you.
Have caravan (and dogs), will travel – Kerry Martin’s partner Sam with their dogs on the road. Photo: Kerry Martin.
“I remember travelling on a plane with my partner and I said to him as a joke, ‘Why don’t we get a caravan and travel around Australia taking photographs of dogs?”
And that’s exactly what they did. First with their two dogs Summer and Keiko, who passed away last year, and later with pup Scout and their cat Mr Magoo.
If there’s one thing that the dogs Kerry photographs share, is that they’re loved. They don’t have to be show dogs or champion triallers. They just need to be dogs which, through her lens, tell a story.
“I always encourage people to be in the pictures with their dogs, because they are half of the story,” she said.
So who is easier to photograph, human or dog?
Summer and Keiko show their political correctness outside Parliament House, Canberra. Photo: Kerry Martin.
“Dogs are easier because they have infinite patience and they are motivated by key things. They also don’t bring past baggage with them … they don’t worry about having a double chin,” she joked.
“They are very much in the moment and joyous.
“If you see a dog doing something goofy or racing their heart out, you can’t help but see the world from their perspective and that is such a special thing.”
All kinds of dogs will be considered for the Puppy Tales book project with owners invited to register their interest.
Kerry will travel to southern NSW later this month to shoot pictures for the new book, including Eden, Jervis Bay and Kiama from 21–27 April and Berrima and Bowral in the Southern Highlands from 28–30 April. More information about how to register your interest in the Puppy Tales book project is available on the website.
