OUR VISION

Why this dog is the essence of natural elegance

L’UomoVogue’s global family shares its perspective on elegance

William Wegman’s is one of the most delightful masterpieces in contemporary photography. An image of universal charm – funny, warm and astonishing all at once – it brings a smile to anyone who looks at it. In Greek and Egyptian mythology you have creatures that are part human and part animal, but this character glows with Hollywood glamour. Her body language is fluid, radiating coolness. She could be Lauren Bacall dressed in a dog costume.

“My dog Batty was only six months when we took this picture, not fully-grown and very leggy,” says Weg- man. “That liquid look is pur e Batty.”

Wegman has been photographing his dogs ever since he got Man Ray, his first Weimaraner, in 1970. Some of his images are romantic and intimate, others classical and formal. But how is it possible to achieve such a high level of chicness as this with an animal?

Some years ago I spent a day with the American artist and his big dogs (I think there were about five of them) in New York and they were running around like normal dogs would.Watching them, there seems nothing unusual about their behaviour and it’s impos- sible to imagine that anything elegant can come out of the chaos. But as pointer-retrievers it’s in their nature to be patient. They are very good at sitting still. Having been photographed since puppy-hood they are comfortable in front of the camera lights. Here, in the click of a second, magic can strike and something unforgettable happens.

Says Wegman, “My dogs are in very good shape. They are elegant, streamlined and natural. That is elegant as in mathematics: sparse, surprising, lean. My dogs tend to be that way. They are not trying, they just are.”