Shadow Photos of Dogs Reveal Their ‘Primal Nature’

Thomas Roma spent three years taking photos at a dog park in Brooklyn, New York. “Their shadows, I felt, revealed a wilder side of their nature,” the 64-year-old photographer said.

The images were taken at Dyker Beach Park. Roma mounted a camera to the end of a pole, raising it up to 7 feet to take photographs of the dogs and their shadows.

“There was something about the primal nature of the shadows of these little lovable pets of ours. … They immediately struck me as something like cave drawings,” Roma said.

“What was interesting to me is I was essentially photographing the ground,” Roma said. “I would find interesting patches of ground and call the dogs over or follow them and get picture of what was actually there.”

Roma stopped photographing the dogs last year when the city renovated the park.

“The pleasure of it was learning new skills after all these years being a photographer,” he said. “And the dogs are just running around like maniacs. That’s what’s so great about it.”