New Orleans, LA – Whether you currently have a mutt, grew up with one, or you’re a pet-free animal lover, MUTTS by Olivia Grey Pritchard is a must have for your coffee table.
MUTTS is a photographic celebration of mystery mixed breeds. If you’ve ever loved a bonafide mutt, you know that they’re some of the best, most loyal dogs ever. This stellar book features more than 100 gorgeous pups from all different origins and breeds, photographed by the award-winning talent Olivia Grey Pritchard. Each photo is accompanied by the pooch’s name, best guess of breed mix, and lists unique traits.
MUTTS aims to inspire joy and connection when readers look through these photographs. And for people who haven’t considered adopting a rescue pet before, this book shows that mutts have just as many unique, lovable, and desirable qualities as pedigreed dogs.
Pritchard’s mission with this book is to call attention to the heartbreaking fact that according to the ASPCA, over half a million dogs are euthanized in US shelters each year, and to encourage more rescue adoptions. In addition to fostering more love for mutts, a portion of the proceeds from the book are being donated to organizations that rescue and spay/neuter, including Take Paws Rescue, Animal Rescue New Orleans, Zeus’ Place, Greta’s Ark Animal Rescue, Trampled Rose Rescue, and the LASPCA.
“MUTTS”
Olivia Pritchard | September 20, 2022 | Susan Schadt Press
Coffee Table Books/Animals | Hardcover | 978-1-7336341-7-5 | $45
More about Olivia Grey Pritchard
After five years as a United Nations photographer working in combat zones, Olivia moved to New Orleans in 2012 and began serving families with her unique perspective of the visual legacy we want to create for our children (with fur and without!). Through her work behind the camera and creating her archival-quality artwork that families cherish for generations, Olivia preserves both the milestone and the everyday memories.
Olivia has owned mutts her whole life—from a border collie mix named Spike that her mom found as a puppy trying to get milk out of a carton and a husky mix named Wylie who met the school bus every afternoon, to the most loyal hound / shepherd mix named Chester who loved to sun himself in a certain spot in the front yard. So it’s no surprise that as an adult, she has a 120 pound St. Bernard / retriever / shepherd rescue named Jasper—the most patient, protective, devoted dog ever.
The subject is always the focus of her portraits, and Olivia seeks honesty and authenticity in her art.
Find out more about Olivia on her website: https://www.oliviagreypritchard.com/.
Follow Olivia on social media:
Facebook: @OliviaGreyPritchardPhotography | Instagram: @oliviagreypritchardphotography
In an interview, Olivia can discuss:
- The mutts she had growing up, and how they came into her life in strange ways, but always at the right time
- How she got into photography, specifically with dogs
- Her experience as a United Nations photographer working in combat zones
- How she is working to create a visual legacy for future generations
- The importance of adopting and how many dogs are euthanized each year
- Her donations goals with the proceeds of this book to local shelters
An Interview with Olivia Pritchard
What sparked this project? What was the first dog photo you took for it?
My sister was the one who actually suggested I do a book like this. She is my studio manager, and we photograph a lot of pets in the studio for our clients. She thought my pet client albums would translate beautifully into a coffee table book with mass appeal. And so it’s fitting that the first dog photographed for this book was my sister’s dog, Rue. She was about to start treatment for cancer, and we wanted to get her portrait in before that started. She went into remission several months later.
Can you talk about your favorite story behind one of the pictures in the book?
Honestly, 8 months out from the last dog photographed for MUTTS, there is one that really sticks in my memory: Butters. She is a pit mix who was found along a busy highway with an extension cord around her neck (we hope as a makeshift leash, but don’t know the details). She was really small for a pit, underweight still (she was just a few months out from rescue, and when they’re severely underweight they have to put it back on very slowly to do it safely), but also just a tiny frame with this huge, sweet blocky head. She had the sweetest eyes and a calm energy; just a magnetic spirit. I am 100% sure that if she had not already been adopted, I would have taken her home that day.
What did you learn about mutts in the process of this photography project?
Well, first of all, mutts are amazing dogs with incredible capacity to forgive, trust again, and live in the moment (but I already knew that)! I loved seeing that over and over again with each dog with a back-story. But I really feel like I learned more about the people who love mutts as opposed to the mutts themselves. The bond that you have with an animal that you rescued is sacred. I loved seeing how dedicated the owners were, willing to work through any issues like separation anxiety, resource guarding, etc. Many rescue dogs don’t come with these challenges, but for the MUTTS models that did, I loved hearing how owners and their dogs were working through them together.
What advice would you give to someone looking to adopt a dog?
When you adopt a dog from a shelter or rescue, you actually save two lives: the life of the dog you adopted, and the life of the dog who was able to have that space at the shelter. I’d say to really think about what kind of dog will suit your lifestyle. Do you want a dog that will run 5 miles with you everyday, or a dog that’s happy with a stroll around the block? What climate do you live in, and is a particular breed mix not well-suited to that climate? Can you spend a ton of time with your dog working from home, or are you gone for long periods each day? Tell all of these things to the rescue and/or shelter workers, or ask to talk to the dog’s current foster. They know the dogs’ personalities (as much as they can in a shelter environment) and can recommend one that might be a good fit to become a part of your family.
How can we help fewer dogs get euthanized each year?
Remember that you can find EVERY kind of dog, even pure breeds and doodle mixes, in rescues and shelters across the country – and when you rescue a dog, you save its life AND the life of the dog who comes into the shelter after him. And fostering a pet is a great option to save two lives at once, too, because fostering also frees up space in a shelter or rescue for another dog. But the MAIN thing we can all do is SPAY and NEUTER our pets. We need more local, state, and federal initiatives to spay and neuter pets free of cost to pet owners, more awareness of the benefits of spaying and neutering (no unwanted litters, better pet health) and more mobile spay and neuter clinics to get into communities. Finally, I would love to see a license requirement to breed any animal, requiring a safe sheltered environment, proof of established veterinary care, with stiff fines/penalties for those who breed irresponsibly. Backyard breeders operate with no oversight whatsoever, and it’s the pets who pay the price and often end up in shelters.
A former award-winning journalist with national exposure, Marissa now oversees the day-to-day operation of the Books Forward author branding and book marketing firm, along with our indie publishing support sister company Books Fluent.
Born and bred in Louisiana, currently living in New Orleans, she has lived and developed a strong base for our company and authors in Chicago and Nashville. Her journalism work has appeared in USA Today, National Geographic and other major publications. She is now interviewed by media on best practices for book marketing.
