Kate Zambreno

When in the center of a room, a dog tends to capture the attention, all conversational traffic filtered through this fuzzy, frisky focal point. You talk at the dog, to the dog, about the dog, through the dog in the same cooing yet firm voice usually reserved for babies.

At Sutton Studios in Evanston, it takes a communal effort to get an 8-year-old panting golden retriever named Summer to sit still enough to be captured in a candid pose with her owners, Ann and Leo McDonald, a kindly Glenview couple dressed in matching gray suits. Photographer David Sutton slides around on the floor, in what he jokingly calls "a bizarre form of photoyoga," as he gets the dog to behave in front of the camera, drawing from a bag of tricks culled from nearly 1500 sessions. Squeezing a squeaky toy perks Summer's ears up. Simultaneously blowing on a harmonica while clicking the shutter causes doggie to make eye contact with the camera. "She's very photogenic," Ann remarks.

Chosen "best pet photographer" in 2001 by Forbes, the easygoing Sutton, tall with a salt-and-pepper goatee, carries on a dialogue with the dog as her owners play cheerleaders. He speaks her language, whimpering, snarling, and barking to get her to pay attention, in order to capture her personality like the other pooches framed in fancy black-and-white photographs around the studio. "Hey, Summer, you wanna go for a walk?" he asks, to alert eyes and wagging tail. Click.

"She communicates with other dogs. When they're up to snuff. And she talks, too, which is unusual," brags Leo, sitting this one out. Summer runs up to proud papa, her nails making a clicking sound as her white legwarmers slide around on the wooden floor, dancing to the easy listening in the background. "We need more motivation," David jokes, reaching in one of two glass jars on the shelf for some Pavlovian treats.

Summer's having trouble focusing. It's been almost an hour. They finally get her to lie down. "Summer, stay. Stay. Stay. Stay. Good dog," croons Ann. "Blow once on her ear, see if she'll lick your face," suggests David. It works. "Gentle," Ann coaxes. "Gentle is her word?" asks David. She nods.

David constantly applies lint roller as the three alternate positions. "No more shedding, okay?" he jokes, always light. It's remarkable how he gets the humans to behave so naturally in front of the camera. "Putting a dog in the picture with humans tend to make them less self-conscious," he explains.

Summer decides to take five, slurping from a bowl of water. "Are you drinking 'cause you're thirsty or are you drinking 'cause you're nervous?" David asks as he dries off her dripping snout. He sets up a pose with Leo sitting on a chair teasing Summer with a cookie. "That's a very typical pose," Ann laughs.

(2003-01-15)

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