“Landfill Dogs” is a series meant to show that these cast-off dogs can be beautiful pets.
Photo by Shannon Johnstone
Shannon Johnstone, a North Carolina-based photographer, stops by the Wake County Animal Center every week and takes one of the dogs to a local park built on a landfill. There, she lets the dog romp and play, while she tries to capture its inner beauty through her lens. You see, these dogs are scheduled to be euthanized, and Johnstone hopes that her images will inspire someone to adopt the dog before its time in the shelter is up. Johnstone calls her project “Landfill Dogs.”
“This landscape offers a metaphor of hope,” Johnstone explained in her artist statement. “It is a place of trash that has been transformed into a place of beauty. I hope the viewer also sees the beauty in these homeless, unloved creatures.”
So far, her plan is working: more than 90 percent of the dogs she has photographed have found forever homes. It’s a wonderful project that produces both gorgeous photos and a new lease on life for these animals who have been abandoned.