Dawn Whitmore hatched Le Caniche Fou (leuh can-eesh foo), French for ‘The Crazy Poodle’, in 2011 after adopting a rescued standard poodle full of pizazz. While the business officially began not too long ago, her interest in photography sprung at age 8 with the gift of her first camera. She began capturing the essence of pet life with the family cats – Mr. Spock and Susie – and then evolved to photographing horses and stable life. Her talents developed further as she began working at a local animal hospital as a nurse, and unofficial pet photographer and documentarian of the veterinary community.
During her studies at the Corcoran College of Art, Dawn couldn’t shake inspiration from the whimsy form of animals, finding her muse in dog sitting clients and late night visitors to the emergency veterinary clinic where she worked. Following graduation, Dawn traveled the world finding artistic inspiration in humans and animals alike, finally settling here in Washington, DC to continue what she had started almost from birth – taking startlingly original photographs of animals and their humans doing what they love in the places that make them feel at home.
Dawn currently lives in Washington, DC, with the wonderful poodle, Benji, and Maytag the big orange tabby.
