a labor of love

Brooklyn-born, San Francisco-seasoned, and now creating fine art dog portraits in Sacramento.

My journey with dog photography began in 2000 in San Francisco. I had just been laid off from my dot-com job in the new year and, by April, I was interviewed for U.S. News & World Report about my experience. When the reporter asked what was next for me, I heard myself say I was going to be a professional photographer. I didn't even own a camera. I think, subconsciously, I had always wanted to do something creative.

Years earlier, while working in PR, I had received a promotional mailer from a local photographer, Amanda Jones. It was a beautiful black and white image of a pug on a square 5x5 card. As a pug lover, I kept it. When the U.S. News article was published in May 2000, I reached out to Amanda, who was nationally recognized for her dog portraiture. By June, I was working as Amanda's assistant at her San Francisco studio. She became both my inspiration and my mentor — and it was Amanda who referred me my first wedding client.

I spent a decade building a photography career in San Francisco as both a wedding and dog photographer — my logo featured a bride walking a pug. I was recognized as one of American Photo magazine's Top 10 Wedding Photographers, and Rangefinder magazine featured a 2008 profile on my work. Then-editor Bill Hurter called my pug Bogie "the ultimate model" — praising his expressive face and ability to inspire truly soulful animal portraiture.

After stepping away to raise my family, I continued freelancing before coming full circle in 2022 and creating Dogs on Paper to focus exclusively on my first love — canine portraiture.

This is a labor of love. Every session is personal. Every portrait matters.

A lifelong dog lover and devoted pug mom, I've had five pugs over the years, each one a piece of my heart. Buddy, my fifth, is my current muse.

— Ann Burgermyer, Dogs on Paper