Occasionally you will see me take a break from my behavior columns to write about an organization, event, or person making a difference. Today, I want to introduce you to Susannah Maynard, the gifted animal photographer behind Cincinnati’s pet lifestyle magazine – CincyPet, for which I am the training expert columnist. In addition to CincyPet, she is the owner/photographer of Pet Love Photography, has published books on rescue animals, and gives of her time to help animal welfare organizations. Her current project is the Tails of Cincinnati book benefitting the SPCA of Cincinnati.
When you meet someone like Susannah who is living out her passion through her work, you see a certain determination in her eyes. She works long hours without batting an eye because she is doing what speaks to her heart.
Susannah has an animal lover much of her life. Growing up, she wanted to be a photojournalist for National Geographic who travels to exotic locations or for a newspaper; or a fashion designer. Since that didn’t happen, she uses her talents to capture the hearts of animals closer to home. And, when she is not working, she spends her time with family and her own non-human companions – Mr. Bojangles (the CincyPet mascot), Paco and Lola, as well as her rescue cat, Diana.
Lisa: Tell me about your first pet
Susannah:
My parents already had three cats when I was born, so my first memories of pets are of them. They were all Siamese – two seal point and one lilac point. However, my first pets that I would consider my own were my cat Patches and her kittens. Patches was a neighborhood cat that my mom took in when she became pregnant. She had six kittens and we kept two of them, finding good homes for the others. I don’t remember how old I was when we got them, but Patches and one of her kittens lived until I was in college. I loved all of them. They were my good friends.
My mom is the one I credit for instilling me with my love of animals. She was a big animal lover herself and she would feed the neighborhood strays. As an only child, our cats were my frequent playmates. Our orange kitty, Morris (I know, not very original) was the best and let me dress him up in doll clothes.
Lisa: When did you get your first dog?
Susannah:
I got my first dog when I moved in with Jason as an adult. We got Stanley in 2007. He was a senior beagle adopted from a rescue. We were at Petsmart getting things for cat litter. Jason saw Stanley and said, “that is my dog.” We didn’t know anything about dogs or beagles.
Stanley was found as a stray in Indiana. He wasn’t in the best shape. They didn’t know how old he was but probably was about 9 or 10. We had him for about 5 years. He had separation anxiety really bad. He was super friendly as long as you weren’t a man. He didn’t like the rain. He would act like he wanted to go to the back door but if he saw it was raining, he would turn around.
From Stanley, I learned to keep on chugging. He ended up having cancer and couldn’t walk too long although he still loved his walks. Even on his last day, I took him for a walk. He just kept going. He was of the philosophy that you pee on it and go. I still miss him a lot.
About 6 or 7 months after we got Stanley we wanted to get him a friend so we got Stella. She just passed away in July. We had her 12 years. She was a beagle/basset mix.
Lisa: You are a gifted pet photographer, and have a knack for bringing out personality in your subjects. How did that evolve?
Susannah:
Thanks! Growing up, I’d always wanted to be a photographer so one day I decided that I was going to actually do it. I decided on pet photography because I find animals so much easier to work with. I just have a great love for animals and a connection with them. Animals are very sensitive and they can recognize that.
Before going out on my own as a photographer, I worked in fundraising for some nonprofits, and then in publishing. I do all on location work. Animals more comfortable in their environment.
Lisa: Tell me more about the Tails of Cincinnati Project.
Susannah:
“Tails of Cincinnati” is a coffee table book of area pets I’m producing to raise money for the SPCA Cincinnati. It was born out of the pandemic and needing to kickstart my photography since I’d had so much time of not doing anything. Plus, I am helping a worthy animal rescue also affected by slowing donations as a result of the pandemic.
In 2018, I adopted my dog, Lola, from the SPCA and have a relationship with them through working on CincyPet Magazine, so felt it was a “no-brainer” to select them as the beneficiary. I wanted to start photographing pets again and thought this project would be a good way to get back into the swing of things.
The book will be for sale in 2021.
Lisa: How did CincyPet Magazine come into being?
Susannah:
As a pet photographer for the last nine years I’ve become very aware of the growth in the pet industry as a whole; and, as a pet parent myself felt that it was a need in the Cincinnati market that needed to be filled. I’d actually had the idea for almost five years before I decided to launch it.
Lisa: They say, if you love what you do, you don’t work a day in your life. What is it about your work that fulfills you?
Susannah:
My pets are my family and my kids. I know there are so many others out there who feel the same way. There is nothing more enjoyable than spending my days photographing pets whether they are mine, someone else’s, or pets that are looking for their forever homes. I know that at the end of the day the work I do matters whether it’s creating lasting memories through photographic art, helping a rescue animal find a home, or helping a pet parent through an article in CincyPet Magazine.
Lisa: I’d love to learn more about Mr. Bojangles.
Susannah:
Mr. Bojangles was actually the inspiration for my becoming a pet photographer. I adopted him 9-½ years ago from Recycled Doggies who had rescued him from a high kill shelter in Southern Kentucky. At the time, Carolyn Evans, The Phodographer was there taking pictures and that’s when I discovered there was such a thing as a professional pet photographer.
He was about two when I adopted him, so he’s 11 now. I actually hadn’t intended to adopt another dog at the time I met him, because we already had two dogs, Stanley, our beagle and my first dog, and Stella, our bagle (beagle/basset.) BUT, it was love at first sight!
He’s just the best little guy in the world. He loves to go wherever he can with me and for years was my perfect spokesdog model for Pet Love Photography. (Now that he’s older, he’s passed the torch on being a spokesdog model to Lola.) He also allowed me to enrich my friends circle with other pet parents both locally and around the world through social media. He is a ladie’s man for sure, whether the ladies have two legs or four. He especially loves other little dogs, so we’ve been going to small dog playgroups for years, as well as frequent visits to the dog park. He is full of personality and I know his many different moods. He loves going for walks in the park and for car rides. He adds so much more to my life than I can ever give him back. I honestly can’t imagine my life without Mr. Bojangles in it.
