Pit Bull Flower Power
(Pit Bulls of the Revolution)
For her acclaimed Pit Bull Flower Power series, Sophie Gamand photographed adoptable shelter pit bulls. The portraits led to countless adoptions, and spurred efforts to destigmatize an animal whose reputation for violence might say more about humans than the dogs themselves.
🌸..🌸..🌸
For decades, pit bulls have been demonized by society and portrayed as hellhounds. They’ve become the most feared, hated, and abused of all companion animals. Some cities and even entire countries ban them, while the media persist in associating them with viciousness. This unjust reputation has sealed the fate of millions of dogs, who face prejudice around the world, languish in shelters where they are the most euthanized. In the U.S. alone, hundreds of thousands of pit bulls are euthanized every year.
Since 2014, I have been taking photographs of adoptable pit bulls, for free, from all around the United States. Many had been waiting for homes for years. The portraits celebrate these dogs’ inherent personality, vulnerability, and individuality and have not only led to hundreds of dogs finding loving, forever homes, but have spurred efforts to destigmatize an animal whose reputation for violence says more about us than the characters of the dogs themselves.
I published a coffee table book in 2018 (out of print).
If you would like to support my work with rescue, check this page for more info. Thank you!
🌸..🌸..🌸
