Elle & Dylan // Seattle, WA

Some critics have called this the greatest album cover that was never released, ‘Siggy, by E.D.S’. The Seattle-based jazz trio rose to popularity in the early 2010s, and have been wooing fans worldwide with their smooth signature sound ever since. Frontman, or better put front-dog Siggy, is a dog of few words, but his look says it all - he means business. But I digress. 

Normally the ballerina is always front and center in my Hasselblad Ballet Project, and the rare occasions I have a ballerino join, it’s usually in a support, or prop-positional function. When Elle mentioned that her ballerino-boyfriend Dylan was, and I quote, of “a very photographic specimen”, I happily obliged having him be part of the project. 

Then - literally midway through the shoot, between frames five & six - Elle pulls out a wildcard and suggests perhaps I might consider including her dog Siggy, who also was “a very photographic specimen”. I’ll be honest: internally, I rolled my eyes. Elle doesn’t know this until right now; but my, am I so glad I swallowed my inner dissent and said we could allow for a frame with the dog. Siggy stole the show, quite literally turning Elle, my shoot’s star ballerina and frontwoman, into an interesting addition. 

Why is Siggy looking so intently at the camera, right ear and tail seemingly in tune to the low vibrations of a jazz trombone’s wails somewhere off in the distance? Why is Dylan sitting in the park with sunglasses on, clearly trying to avoid being recognized by a throng of adoring fans, and better yet; where is Elle? 

While we were figuring out our next pose, I noticed Siggy’s intent, obsessive gaze at a bag of treats Dylan had brought along, to bribe and cajole Siggy’s participation. Where initially I had been internally averse to a dog in the shot, now my mind was spitting up idea after idea for my newfound front-dog. Asking Dylan to give me the bag of treats,  Siggy suddenly became  mesmerized with my hand, almost going into a trance. With just a flick of the wrist, I had his complete attention, as if placed under a spell. 

We came up with this idea of Elle laying across Dylan’s lap, still very much a principal ballerina, but now in a prop-position. With Siggy’s treat bag in my possession, I promised Dylan unlimited treats if he would only channel his inner Rico Suave, and the shot was made. I chuckle at the thought of me, one who isn’t the biggest fan of our furry friends*, for just a moment, becoming A Dog Whisperer. 

I feel like I say this in almost every other blog post, but my project would be nothing, absolutely nothing, without the trust ballerina and ballerino - & dog - give me to make a different image. Many songs could be written about this picture. Instead, I’ll leave it to the viewer to impose their own interpretation of this album cover that never was. 

*since my entire wardrobe is almost solely of the shade black, or Zone 0 for you photographers out there, I seem to be a magnet for dog hairs. Hence, my friendly aversion to dogs. 

June 7, 2021