Hunting Dogs

A network of diagonal lines holds the four dogs as the central focus in Count Olympe Aguado's photograph: a tether of ropes holding the dogs from below, a line of bricks rising from left to right, and a dim horizontal shadow grazing the backs of the dogs and the stone basin behind them. The animals appear like performers on a stage, facing the viewer with genial expressions. The artistic control Aguado displayed in this picture was all but unheard of at the time this image was made. Early photographic materials were slow and awkward to use, often requiring exposure times of many seconds. With such long exposures small movements could make the subject look blurry. Animals were among the most challenging subjects, because they rarely stood still long enough to get a sharp picture. Aguado surmounted these obstacles to make a picture that is not just technically superb but also rich and evocative.