Among the many images of canines in the Library of Congress collections are some striking shots taken by photographer Anthony Angel (born Angelo Rizzuto) in mid-twentieth-century New York City. Last week’s post focused on highly staged images of costumed animals that were designed to entertain a commercial audience with posed critters in “human situations.” Angel’s candid shots, with their fly-on-the-wall observational approach, couldn’t provide more of a contrast.
While a relatively small number of images from the Anthony Angel collection have been digitized thus far, even the small online set of his dog images reveals some patterns. My favorite canine photos by Angel are the ones that home in on relationships between dogs, some with an almost meet-cute quality. The dog at right in the image below delicately lifts its left paw as another pup approaches.
The following image is a humorous study in contrasts: the fluffy poodle on the right, standing tall as if human, has certainly caught the attention of the sleek dog on the left.
I noticed that Angel snapped another poodle (or could it be the same one?) in this photo from two years earlier. This made me wonder if standing upright is a common behavior of the breed, and a quick online search seemed to support this theory! A smaller dog, clearly the object of the poodle’s attention, is visible on the opposite corner:
Human-dog interactions also feature in Angel’s images. I was amused by this one, below, of a sober-faced man in business attire watching his dog relieve himself on a fire hydrant. The scene is nicely framed by a series of canopies displaying the names of businesses, possibly along E. 52nd Street.
The woman in this photo holds a small dog and seems to be eyeing the camera, or Angel, suspiciously.
Other images show more tender interactions between dogs and people. In the image below, a man introduces a baby to a spaniel on a leash. The dog gently sniffs the child while the baby’s fingers splay out in the pup’s direction, indicating mutual interest. Another spaniel looks on from behind.
The woman in the following image appears to be cooling both her feet and her dog’s paws in a fountain on this evidently hot August day. The man sitting on the steps behind them seems worlds away, absorbed in thought.
One of the gratifying aspects of exploring Angel’s photographs is the endless details he provides for us to observe, and the questions they prompt us to consider. In the image below, the girl looks pensively to her left while cradling a dachshund, who is looking in the opposite direction. Whatever might be holding their attention is likely out of frame and certainly a mystery to the viewer. A jumble of straps in the bottom half of the photograph draws the eye, and we notice that the girl is holding another leash in her right hand — we can only guess who might be on the other end.
Learn More:
- View more digitized images from the Anthony Angel collection.
- Learn more about the Anthony Angel collection in these past Picture This blog posts:
- Reread last week’s post, Animals in Human Situations, for a very different view of animal behavior.