Prized pets in portrait: a new book poses dozens of gay and lesbian New Yorkers in family photos with their animal companions - books - Brief Article

It's a classic tale of New Yorkers with bite and a certain magnetism. A story of people who are madly in love with their hirsute and sometimes scaly companions: their pets. The coffee-table book NYC Pet Project: A Collection of Portraits and Letters From the Heart offers 122 portraits of New Yorkers, including many gays and lesbians, with their pets, all shot in beautiful black and white by up-and-coming photographers Jason Lindberg and Ron Monk. Accompanying each photo is a heartfelt letter written by the pet owners to their animal amigos.

As much a study of how both people and animal companions adapt to life in the Big Apple as it is a paean to pets, the book encompasses a range of New Yorkers, such as modern lesbian couple Carol and Melissa and their pets Stretch, a decorated box turtle, and Tess, a Labrador retriever; street buddies "Hoe" and "Little" and their pit bull, Taz, whom they rescued from an abusive owner; and Rue McClanahan and her Siamese cat, Miss Bianca.

Though all those featured cherish their pets, openly gay publisher Edward J. Kaczmarek III says gay men and lesbians share a special bond with their animals. "The pets of gays and lesbians are just as much a part of the relationship as the partner is," he says. "It's a total family unit. One doesn't come without the other."

Fellow out publisher Michael J. La Rue says he was inspired to do Pet Project after having been forced to give up his three dogs at a low point in his life. The book is "all about unconditional love," he notes. That love will be passed on through the book's sales as well, with 25% of its profits going to more than 10 animal shelters with no-kill policies.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Liberation Publications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group