Artist Photographs His Adorable Bull Terrier Jimmy in Creative, Fun and Silly Situations
Rafael Mantesso‘s dog, an adorable bull terrier named Jimmy Choo, is taking the Internet by storm today after Mantesso’s creative Instagram photos of Jimmy caught the attention of the world at large.
An artist and editor, Mantesso draws, dresses and otherwise inserts an unbelievably cooperative Jimmy into countless fun adventures on his Instagram account — from a screaming vocal performance, to a day spent with troublemaking cartoon duo Calvin and Hobbes.
Mantesso tells us that these photographs and the viral fame that followed all started with a divorce.
“My ex-wife took all the furniture in the house and the house was completely empty and white,” he said. “The only thing I had was the jimmy and a complement and empty white house.” And so, he decided to take this picture:
It was just an image of the two ‘holding hands,’ symbolizing the friendship they had, but this photo birthed another, and then another, and before long Mantesso was creating them almost every day.
Enlisting his drawing and painting skills to create the backgrounds, Mantesso then uses his iPhone to shoot the images and VSCOCam to edit them. What comes out the other end are images that many of us just can’t help smiling at:
For Mantesso, the best part of the press attention is the positive image he hopes these photos create for bully breeds.
I always dreamed of having a bull terrier. I think they’re an amazing race in terms of behavior, personality, the love they demonstrate to their owners and especially the aesthetics of them.
Jimmy will be 5 years old on December 29, and he’s definitely my best friend and companion. I hate it when people turn away or cross the street for fear of him, people think the bull terrier/pit bull dogs are murderers and bloodthirsty.
That, he maintains, just isn’t the case. And if these cute pictures of Jimmy eating with Lady from Lady and the Tramp or giving out free hugs will help change that perception, all the better.
To keep up with Jimmy as he continues to go on his wild adventures, be sure to give Mantesso’s Instagram account a follow by clicking here.
(via Boing Boing)
Image credits: Photographs by Rafael Mantesso and used with permission
