Virginia SPCA

I spent five days in Virginia with Ben Hernandez ( a former student and great guy) photographing at an animal shelter, the Nelson County SPCA, named Almost Home. I am hoping to create a book for them of portraits of their animals that they could use for fund raising and also to help increase awareness in the area about all the amazing animals available for adoption. Rita Mae Brown (mystery writer and writer of Rubyfruit Jungle) will be writing the forward - cool.
It was an experience. The place is warm and inviting and the staff bent over backwards for us. They are a "no kill" shelter which means they try as long as possible to place their animals. Some of the animals have been there for years. No matter how nice a facility it is - its always heart wrenching. The animals just want a home, its that simple. When you see all these animals that have been thrown away by their owners for one reason or another, its impossible to harden your heart. Some of the animals would cling to us as we sat in their kennels trying to photograph them. We had limited time and many photos to make, but we still needed to calm ourselves for these animals. I didn't want our stress to add to theirs. Some of the animals shrunk in to the corners, many were afraid of the camera.
Here are but a few of the faces...