A. Randall was a jeweler. He had some of the most valuable gems of his time in his hands.
But when he decided to have a portrait made, sometime between 1870 and 1875, he did not choose a precious stone or a piece from his collection. He chose his dog. He seated the animal in front of the camera in what is now considered one of the first photographic sessions dedicated to a pet in history. Shy in front of the unfamiliar device, the animal hid its eyes in several shots, as if it did not quite understand why its human was treating it like a treasure.
More than 150 years later, those plates have survived, and with them the proof of something that needs no date: long before selfies with dog filters, there were already people willing to preserve forever the face of their four-legged companion.
