David Dalton, probably the most well-known and most experienced Dog Photographer in Europe, was born in a small mining village near Rotherham in Yorkshire, U.K.
His mother (the real photographer in the family) encouraged him to join the local camera club and before long, he was working in the darkroom at the Sheffield Daily Newspaper.
He studied photography at college in Rotherham, then worked for a press agency and for other newspapers before eventually opening his own studio near Liverpool. David is one of the very few photographers in dogs who is college trained. His experience in photography has been commercial, art, media, public relations plus of course animals. An aunt used to breed Rough Collies and at the age of sixteen David first photographed them for her. Serious dog photography followed when he purchased a yellow Labrador in 1978. He went to dog shows where requests from fellow exhibitors snowballed so that two years later photography of dogs became full time.
David first photographed for Our Dogs in England, then for the next twenty years for Dog World.
As his reputation grew, invitations from European countries followed. There is also an annual trip to Japan and several to America. He likes to photograph dogs in natural surroundings and besides the superb quality of his work one of his greatest assets is his patience with dogs and their owners.
He is also a Championship Show Judge of Flatcoated Retrievers and he judges BIS at the English open shows (all breeds).
David has a comprehensive collection of images in his stock library, also the English Kennel Club Picture Library holds an extensive collection of his work.
He now lives in Central France with his partner Hanneke and has his own subjects to photograph: a Deerhound, a Flatcoated Retriever and a Jack Russell Terrier.
