Surely more than once you have heard it said that ARISTODOGS and their ARISTOPARENTS resemble each other… or end up resembling each other. In fact, you may even think so. This is not a coincidence, but rather hides a reason, acknowledged or not by dog owners, which has to do with the fact that we choose our furry friends based on how much they resemble us.
Experts from the University of California have been researching this premise for years. After studying the similarities between owners and dogs in different dog parks in San Diego, they concluded that there was a replicable pattern among many of them. According to the team, for example, women with long hair tended to have long-haired dogs with large ears; while in the case of men, if they were corpulent, they usually opted for large dogs. With all this, they concluded that, consciously or not, we tend to choose the new family member according to traits that fit ours. Something that may have to do with feeling more comfortable with them.
These reflections led photographer Inés Opifanti to develop an artistic project that we love and want to share with you today. In it, ARISTOPARENTS imitate the facial expressions of their life companions, their dogs. And, the truth is, the similarities are surprising and show a very special sensitivity, both on the part of the photographer and on the part of the owners.
This project is titled "The dog people" and immortalizes the expressions of 34 people and their pets, to validate the popular wisdom that says that, over the years, we end up resembling our dogs... and vice versa.
In the photographs, the owners imitate their dogs, in an exercise of affection and humor. The result of hours and hours of observation, as well as a lot of shared time. Only in this way can one reach that level of mimicry. Where the tilt of the head is the same; as is the expression of joy and liveliness; the intensity of the gaze...
Here you can see some of the photographs from the project that we liked the most. Because they show that humans and ARISTODOGS can become almost, almost one and the same being.
Opifanti's natural talent for capturing the personality of people and animals has led her to specialize in editorial and commercial photography. Opifanti currently lives and works in Hamburg (Germany). If you want to see other facets of her photographic work, we invite you to visit her Instagram.
At ARISTOPET, we love artistic projects that enhance the relationship between people and animals, and give visibility to a bond and a way of life that makes us improve as a society.
Like this one by Ralph Hargarten, who did the opposite of Opifanti, as he immortalized dogs with very, very human expressions. Or like the wonderful series of upside-down dogs by photographer Serena Hodson, whom we recently told you about here.