Landfill Dogs


  • Photographer
    Shannon Johnstone
  • Prize
    2nd Place / Nature/Other_N
  • Company/Studios
    Shannon Johnstone
  • Date of Photograph
    2013–2016
  • Technical Info
    Archival Inkjet Prints

These are not cute pictures of dogs. These are dogs who have been homeless for at least two weeks, and now face euthanasia if they do not find a home. Each week I bring one dog from the animal shelter and photograph him/her at Landfill Park, a former landfill converted into a public park. The backdrop of Landfill Park is used for two reasons. First, the dogs will end up in a landfill if they don’t find a home. They will be euthanized and thrown in the trash. Below the surface at Landfill Park there are more than 25,000 dogs buried there. I think of this park as a burial ground. The second reason is because the animal shelter falls under the same management as the landfill. This government structure reflects a societal value; homeless cats and dogs are just another waste stream. However, this landscape offers a metaphor of hope.

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