One thing that Magnum Dogs, a volume of photographs publishing later this month, does not do is debunk the popular notion that dog and owner look alike. In fact, more than 150 images by Eve Arnold, Cristina García Rodero, Philippe Halsman, David Hurn, Hiroji Kubota, Steve McCurry, Inge Morath, Dennis Stock, and other Magnum photographers make a strong case for the truism. As the photographer Richard Kalvar said, “I photograph [dogs] the way I photograph people: interested in what they are, but even more interested in what they seem to be, what they remind me of. Which with dogs in general means people.”
There are the matching paws and feet of a Dalmatian and its owner getting some sun in Portofino; a couch shared by a woman, her dog, and its puppy for an afternoon nap; and a little mutt holding hands with a man triple its height on the streets of Georgia. There are actresses, from Marilyn Monroe, who gives the passenger seat to a beautiful hunting dog on the set of The Misfits, to Audrey Hepburn and Jayne Mansfield, enjoying some downtime alongside their pooches. Best of all is a busful of kids emanating the same exact youthful, ecstatic energy as the furry creature seated with them. —Julia Vitale