Pug Shots

With their squished-up faces, solidly built bodies, bug-eyes, and curlicue tails, pugs are one of the oddly endearing of all canine breeds. What other breed can look so philosophical, dignified, perplexed, content, or simply plain cool with just a slight change of expression? The pugs in Pug Shots look right at home whether getting married at the spur of the instant in a Las Vegas chapel, studying the fine architecture in a Gothic cathedral, or trying out a new toupee.

Photographer Jim Dratfield has captured pugs in all in their moods in sepia-toned and full-color photographs, together with a fitting, pun-filled caption for each and every. You’ll be able to meet a pot-bellied pug, litter pugs, a horse and puggy, and pugz ‘n the hood. Dratfield is the creative director of Petography, Inc., a fine-art photographic pet portrait studio, and is obviously adept at capturing the personalities of animals on camera, in addition to the use of props and settings to bring out their personas.

In case you’ve never been introduced to the all-pug band The Puggles, a dune puggy, or Three Pugs in a Fountain, Pug Shots will acquaint you with these strangely likeable little creatures. All dog lovers, especially pug fans, must experience this lively, creative photo collection. –Kris Law

Jim Dratfield, writer of The Quotable Canine and The Quotable Feline, is the landlord of Petography, Inc., a photography studio that specialize in pet portraiture. His celebrity clients include Henry Kissinger, Oscar de la Renta, Bebe Neuwirth, and Jennifer Aniston. He lives in New York City with Caleb, his black Labrador.