RUTH STEINBERG PHOTOGRAPHS

Sadie’s World

Sadie's World is my contribution to a collaborative project called Correspondences, which was conceived by 10 Canadian photographers asked  to consider how humans and other sentient beings inhabit -- in healthy and unhealthy ways -- our shared environment. I chose to see the world as my dog Sadie does, and this exercise revealed a world rich in detail and delight. 

Like all dogs, Sadie apprehends her environment through smell: she is “led by the nose” to scope out interesting spots to explore. Sight is a secondary sense in dogs, and what they see is limited in palette to black, white, blue and green/yellow. Unlike humans, dogs are endlessly fascinated by even the most mundane, and can focus attention on every leaf or tree stump with each visit to the forest. I have come to appreciate the seemingly unremarkable on our walks together, learning from Sadie to look with fresh eyes, and marvel at this world that we share.