People love dogs, and dogs love people. Walking a dog is one of the most
visible and mutually beneficial manifestations of that bond. It is a
ritual steeped in affection and obligation. It doesn't have a day off.
It doesn't pay the bills or clean the dishes or do the laundry. Still,
people and dogs alike gain the benefits of exercise, socialization,
shared experiences and observations. Another benefit, often overlooked,
is the pleasure of mutually indulging a trait that ordinary dogs share
with extraordinary people: curiosity. This book is, in many ways, an ode
to curiosity.
Walking Magpie is about a dog and what a dog sees. It is also a work
of serious photography by a well-known and pioneering landscape artist:
Chuck Forsman, who, for more than forty years, has been a keen observer
of the interface between landscape and culture as expressed through his
paintings and photographic art. As a result, Forsman often goes to
places that might not be on everyone's radar screen.
In this book, Forsman took a camera with him during his walks with
Magpie, the family dog. Often, these walks are in the neighborhood and
surrounding hills where Forsman lives: near the Flatirons in Boulder.
But Magpie joins Forsman on other adventures, from Alaska and the
Northwest Territories of Canada to Florida, Ohio, and New York City. The
intent is to turn these experiences into art. With each picture we sense
mystery rather than clarity, questions about place rather than answers.
We hardly can know what a dog knows, but with this book we can
appreciate better what a dog sees and senses and experiences, helping
the human and canine imagination to meld, at least a little.
Walking Magpie is published in conjunction with a retrospective of
Chuck Forsman's photographs at the Denver Art Museum in October 2013.
Published in association with the Denver Museum of Art.
