Even if you don’t know the name, William Wegman, you’ve probably seen his work: His photography is famous for anthropomorphic dog portraits typically featuring his Weimaraners.

His original dog was “Man Ray,” not only Wegman’s first Weimaraner, but the first dog he worked with in a studio. Of “Ray,” Wegman said in 2002, “”Some dogs don’t like to be stared at. Man Ray required it… In the act of being photographed he [became] magnified.”

“Ray” died in 1982, and since then, Wegman has worked with fourteen Weimaraners, in total. In the video below, he talks a bit about his work and his dogs:

How does the art world see Wegman’s work? In the video below, we hear from art dealer, Angela Westwater, on Wegman’s Weimaraner portraits:

If you skipped watching the previous two videos, don’t pass on watching the silent video that greets visitors to Wegman’s website. There is an intelligence in the Viszla sitting with Wegman (presumably, it’s May Ray) that is remarkable. Wegman has said that Weimaraners, “as pointer-retrievers…have an innate ability to hold still and focus,” but we suspect that it’s the breed’s intellect, if that’s applicable to a dog, is what draws viewers to Wegman’s images.

In 2017, Wegman released a career retrospective book, “William Wegman: Being Human” which includes 300 photographs of his dogs from his countless collection of prints, many of which have never been shown to the public.