What an honour it was to be asked to photograph for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People at The Beatrice Wright Centre in Yorkshire last year.
I was commissioned to capture one of their partners, Peter, together with his Cockapoo for the charity’s magazine and it was a glorious sunny day in Yorkshire so I knew we were going to have a great photo shoot!
The team at the Yorkshire training centre were warm and welcoming and I immediately felt that they all really appreciated me being there.
When I met Peter and his dog, Arya, I could straight away feel the bond that existed between them. And I know this is a result of their time spent together and very much a testament to the in-depth training from the charity, the volunteer puppy trainers and with the incredible support of those who sponsored Arya on her journey to becoming a hearing dog.
Peter told me of the transformative effect that Arya has on his life, saying how he felt so much more connected to the world and so much less isolated and lonely. She was his friend and supporter and helped him with so many aspects of daily life.
Hearing dogs begin their training as puppies and at around eight weeks old they will take their first steps of being a hearing dog at the Hearing Dogs Training Centre before being homed with a puppy training volunteer. The volunteer trainers have specific support from the charity’s qualified puppy training instructors and it can take 16-24 months to train a hearing dog. You can find out more about all the steps involved on a puppy’s training journey here.
When photographing Peter with Arya, I knew I needed to approach the shoot with sensitivity and awareness of how I made them both feel. I usually work in a very calm way around any dog, but in this particular case, I knew that having empathy for how Peter felt being photographed and any directions I was giving needed to take account of his needs. They were both brilliant and it was a real joy to capture their connection and I was thrilled when I received a copy of ‘Favour’ the Hearing Dogs for Deaf People magazine and to see Peter and Arya’s story brought to life with my photographs accompanying the feature.
Here is a little selection of photographs from my time spent with Hearing Dogs in Yorkshire and here are some truly lovely words that I received from them in reaction to my work as The Yorkshire Dog Photographer….
“Kathryn was fantastic. She was expertly able to capture the strong bond between our deaf partners and their hearing dogs, which is what makes our partnerships so special. She put our deaf partners at ease and was mindful of their different communication needs. Thank you Kathryn!”
If you’d like to find out how you can support Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, take a look here.