In this exclusive interview with Canine Society, award-winning photographer Dimpy Bhalotia shares how a childhood fear of dogs evolved into a fascination with their unpredictable nature. A pioneer of mobile street photography, she captures fleeting moments with an instinctive eye for movement, emotion and human connection. From street dogs in Delhi to the beauty of the unscripted moment, Bhalotia reveals how learning to see differently can change everything.
You’ve spent years observing people, movement and emotion through your camera. What first made you fall in love with photography?
Dimpy Bhalotia: "I think I fell in love with life before I fell in love with photography. I have always been fascinated by the little things happening around us. A sudden movement, an unusual coincidence, a funny expression, or a moment that lasts barely a second. Life is constantly performing, and most of the time, we are too busy to notice. My background is in fashion design, and I spent years travelling, searching for fabrics and exploring different creative fields. I would photograph everything that caught my eye, collecting photographs, fabric swatches and little visual discoveries for my mood boards and sketchbooks. Somewhere along the way, I realised that the act of observing and photographing these things made me feel more alive than anything else. Photography gradually became the one thing that made me feel completely connected to the world. What fascinates me most is that life never repeats itself exactly. You can return to the same street a thousand times, but you will never see precisely the same moment again. Photography gives me the extraordinary privilege of keeping something that time refuses to keep. And that makes me very happy."
Technology can make a camera smarter. It cannot teach someone what is worth seeing.
You started photographing with a mobile phone in 2006, long before smartphone photography became so influential. What attracted you to the medium?
Dimpy Bhalotia: "Freedom! I have never believed that a bigger camera makes a bigger photographer. A camera is simply a tool. The real magic happens somewhere between your eyes, your imagination and your ability to recognise a moment. I loved the simplicity of having a camera in my pocket. I could walk, observe, explore and photograph without feeling separated from the world around me. With a phone, I wasn’t carrying photography around. I was simply living, and photography was coming along for the ride. I have since explored other cameras, including Leica and film, but my philosophy remains unchanged. Technology can make a camera smarter. It cannot teach someone what is worth seeing."
What is it about dogs that you find so interesting to photograph?
Dimpy Bhalotia: "Dogs are wonderfully unpredictable. They have absolutely no interest in being photogenic, which makes them incredibly photogenic! They stretch, jump, sleep in the strangest positions, chase things that aren’t there and sometimes look at you as though they know something you don’t. I love their freedom of expression. There is no performance, no self-consciousness and certainly no concern about finding their best angle. But my relationship with dogs has a rather unexpected beginning. I used to be frightened of them. I had cynophobia, a fear of dogs. Photography gradually changed that relationship. The more I observed them, the more I began to understand them. What began as fear turned into curiosity, and curiosity eventually became affection. It’s quite funny, really. I once wanted to run away from dogs. Now I find myself running towards them with my phone."
The dogs hadn’t suddenly become different. My perception of them had.
Do you think dogs reveal something about people that we might otherwise miss?
Dimpy Bhalotia: "Absolutely. I think dogs are rather brilliant at revealing the human condition. Watch someone walking alone, and you see one personality. Watch the same person with their dog, and suddenly another side appears. People become playful, patient, protective, ridiculous and wonderfully affectionate. A serious-looking man might spend ten minutes negotiating with a tiny dog that refuses to move. A child might share their last biscuit with a stray. Someone who barely speaks to another human all day might have an entire conversation with their dog. These little interactions fascinate me. Dogs have a beautiful way of removing formality from human behaviour. Perhaps that’s why I enjoy photographing them. Sometimes the dog tells you more about the human than the human does."
Can you remember a particular moment or encounter with a dog that stayed with you?
Dimpy Bhalotia: "Yes, and it wasn’t a dramatic moment. It was a personal one. I remember photographing street dogs in Delhi when I was still frightened of them. For about a week, I kept returning and gradually moving closer. Whenever they barked, my instinct was to run. But I challenged myself to stay, observe and understand their behaviour. Eventually, I found the courage to approach them and gently pat them on the head. It might sound like a very ordinary encounter, but for me, it changed something important. The dogs hadn’t suddenly become different. My perception of them had. That experience taught me something I continue to carry into my photography: sometimes we need to change the way we look at something before we can truly see it. I went there with my phone to photograph dogs. I came away having discovered something about myself."
I don’t want a dog to pose for my photograph. I want life to surprise both of us.
What makes a great photograph of a dog for you: the expression, the movement, the relationship with its human, or something completely unexpected?
Dimpy Bhalotia: "The unexpected. Always! A beautiful expression is lovely. Movement is exciting. But what excites me most is when all the ordinary elements of life suddenly come together in an extraordinary way. A dog might jump at precisely the right moment, tilt its head unexpectedly or wander into a scene and completely enhance its meaning. For me, a great dog photograph isn’t necessarily about how beautiful the dog looks. It’s about what the photograph makes you feel. I don’t want a dog to pose for my photograph. I want life to surprise both of us."
