Tokyo Dogs
Photographing dogs to talk about humans
As early as the 1950s, Elliott Erwitt offered a humorous perspective on our relationship with domestic animals with his series DOGS and shots like Dogs, New York, United States, circa 1950, depicting a small dog wearing a sweater, standing next to its owner's feet.
Continuing the tradition of street photography, the TOKYO DOGS series, created between 2022 and 2025, questions the evolution of our relationship with animals in contemporary urban societies by spontaneously capturing the everyday lives of dogs and their owners in Tokyo's public spaces, without staging.
Photographing dogs to talk about humans; our relationship with domestic animals reflects our relationship with the world, with others, but also with our own bodies.
Our relationship with dogs has always rested on both a principle of utility (guard dogs, hunting or defense dogs, sled dogs, companion dogs...) and on affection, trust, and mutual aid. Is this relationship evolving as today's dogs have become primarily companion animals?
The trend toward anthropomorphism seems to be growing, and dogs are increasingly considered as true human children.
Owners speak to their dogs as if they were human beings, carry them in their arms like babies, or use strollers to avoid tiring them. Clothing is no longer purely practical—coats for cold weather or booties to protect paws from hot pavement—but very often purely aesthetic, accompanied by accessories, collars, or sunglasses. Some restaurants, like high chairs and children's menus, offer dedicated seating and menus for dogs. Others organize birthday parties for dogs, with specially designed meals and cakes.
Could we have imagined, just a few years ago, a human couple blowing out the candles of a dog birthday cake—made with liver and sweet potato—alongside their cone-hatted dog sipping a carrot smoothie?
Loved no longer for what they do, but for what we imagine them to be: dogs have today become emotional and social companions.
Owners dress, groom, and perfume their dogs, organize dog meetups in parks, and take group photos.
In cafes, dogs have become the main topic of conversation among their owners.
Seemingly loved as children, companion dogs nonetheless appear strangely forgotten in their true animal nature by their owners.
Are they happy wearing sunglasses, blowing out candles, or being transported in strollers?
Do Tokyo's dogs then fit into the logic of objects described by Jean Baudrillard in 1968 in "The System of Objects"—animal-signs carrying meanings and symbols, whose owners sometimes neglect their natural needs and desires in favor of their own personal, emotional, and social desires?
This series of photographs, taken notably in Tokyo around Yoyogi Park, aims to capture and highlight this growing phenomenon.
The photographs on this site are protected by copyright. For any commercial or non-commercial use, please contact Olivier Defaye.
