The Kennel Club Art Gallery is proud to unveil its latest upcoming capsule exhibition, Salty Dogs, a vibrant photographic showcase of cyanotype images by photographer and artist, Nick Gardner.
A former BBC presenter and broadcast journalist, Nick, from East Sheen, south-west London, has a lifelong love of dogs and they have been the subject of his photography for over a decade, reflecting their role as dignified companions, constant observers and emotional supporters.
Having graduated with a First Class Honours degree in BA (Hons) Fine Art Photography in 2024, Nick now concentrates on alternative photographic processes, creating cyanotypes by hand, using light and classic chemistry.
Cyanotype is a photographic printing technique that produces a distinctive blue-tinted (also known as cyan) image through a contact print method, and allows for the creation of one-of-a-kind artworks, where each print is inherently different due to the variables of exposure and the natural conditions during processing.
The Salty Dogs capsule exhibition will showcase a curated selection of various breeds, portrayed via this unique and rare photographic process.
Nick commented: “What makes cyanotype special to me is how unpredictable and hands-on it is – there’s no ‘undo’ or ‘reset’ button. You never quite know how a print will turn out, just like you can’t fully predict a dog’s expression. That honesty is what makes both the process and the subject so rewarding.
“In a time when almost everything can be edited, filtered or AI-enhanced, we risk losing the imperfections that gives art its character. Each cyanotype I make is one of a kind – just like the dogs I photograph.”
Heidi Hudson, Curator of Photographic Collections at The Kennel Club, added: “Salty Dogs truly is not your average dog photographic portraits. Nick’s one-of-a-kind photography harks back to the days of early 1840s photography pioneers Anna Atkins, William Henry Fox Talbot, and Sir John F. W. Herschel. It’s exciting for The Kennel Club gallery to highlight new art inspired by the cyanotype photography honed over 185 years ago.”
The Kennel Club Art Gallery is world class collection of dog art and artefacts. Situated in Mayfair, London, it is open by appointment to all art lovers with an interest in dogs and welcomes visitors from all over the world.
The exhibition is free to enter and open to the public from 1 July – 31 October at The Kennel Club Art Gallery, 10 Clarges Street, Mayfair, W1J 8AB, from 9:30am to 4pm. More information can be found by visiting thekennelclub.org.uk/gallery.
To book your visit, please email Art.Gallery@thekennelclub.org.uk or call 020 7518 1064.