During the pandemic, I met many people who adopted new pets to alleviate stress and anxiety or even to help with the loneliness of being stuck at home while the world was becoming more socially distant. I felt lucky that our family had adopted a new puppy just a few months before the declaration of the global pandemic. As I contemplated how much joy and colour Vader, our Aussie Shepard, brought to our home, I felt very grateful for the role pets play in our lives and how much unconditional love they have for us. 

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CMYK9 is the third project in my pandemic trilogy. From the beginning, I’ve felt creatively compelled to archive some meaning from this global social contagion. We have seen some of the best and worst human behaviour and we’re still learning about the long-term physical, environmental and social impacts from COVID-19. In CMYK9, I wanted to explore our social relationship with our pets and their changing view of the world during this time. Was it the best of times? Was it the worst of times? What were other dogs saying on the fire-hydrant community board? While we know dogs have dichromatic vision (only able to see in two colours), I’ve imagined their colour spectrum changing as dramatically as our lives over the last three years. 

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While many people have experienced mental health benefits from their new pets, there is also the sad reality that many pandemic pets are no longer wanted or are otherwise proving too difficult to keep as the world reverts to a different social orbit. To support our loving animal friends, partial proceeds of all prints sold will go to the SPCA. If you have a pet - dog, cat, hamster, goldfish, snake, salamander, or other lovely creature - that you would like photographed and processed in this technique, please be in touch. 

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As with my previous work in this trilogy, the pandemic pet photographs of CMYK9 are hand-painted, unique limited editions using a 19th Century technique called tri-colour gum bichromate. 

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*CMYK refers to the four colours used in this printing technique: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black or palladium). 

**K9, of course, refers to our canine friends.