Montreal pet photographer, Chantal Levesque, has a gorgeous passion project: Chasing Shadows. This series of photos are monochromatic, featuring black dogs as well as a few cats. The images are breath-taking. Although we typically think of spring and fall for outdoor photography, Chantal shows us that winter can be gorgeous too.
From Chantal: “Chasing Shadows is a long-term photo project that is near and dear to my heart. I had a big black dog called Ruth as a kid and shared 16 years of my adult life with a super handsome black cat, Diablo (who enjoyed singing in the shower… not a joke.) I’ve always loved black animals, so I was quite surprised to learn when working with shelters that they were often overlooked and the last to get adopted.
So in honour of all those magnificent, goofy, sweet, funny, adventurous creatures, I give you Chasing Shadows, a photographic journey of black adopted animals. 
Photographed in many shades of grey, the animal’s personality, spunk, liveliness, and of course, their badassery can be displayed without any distractions.
The only colour in the image is the flicker in their eye that lets us gaze into their kind, loving souls.
Through portraits, action shots, and moody environmental photography, like stills from a movie, their stories will be told, and adventures will be lived.
Black animals rock, let’s show the world!”
Chasing Shadows is an ongoing project. Contact Chantal for more information if you have a pet that would be a perfect model for this series. Although I’ve only shared photos of dogs and cats, she is happy to consider ferrets, pigs, birds, as well as other animals for the project.
Follow Chantal Levesque Photography on Instagram.
Lastly, if you are thinking about adding a new family member, please consider adopting one. You might be able to find your next best friend at your local rescue organization or online.
About Chantal Levesque Photography: Based in Montreal, Quebec, Chantal specializes in pet photography.
What an amazing series of photos I love how they have used colour in them and what a range of different shots too!
Love these photos. I especially love the black cat. I’ve always found them gorgeous.
This is so brilliant and such a beautiful project! She captures the animals so perfectly and I only wish she was closer to Florida!
These photos remind me that winter is right around the corner. Love them all!
Great photos! These dogs and cats looked stunning with their candid shots.
These are gorgeous! We have a black cat and love her, despite her having a bit of an attitude problem LOL.
You are so talented. This is such a beautiful collection of photos.
These are such breathtaking photos! I wish black animals got more love and attention. Just because they’re a different color doesn’t mean they’re not absolutely precious. I love black kitties and they have such a bad rep! This project is phenomenal. And beautiful!
WOW, these are stunning! I particularly like the one with the black cat, it is so beautiful. Black cats still have a stigma around them and it can be hard to get them adopted, but showing them in such a gorgeous way with photography like this may help people see their beauty!
My best pic is the little dog under the tree. He is absolutely a cutir.
Awww, these are all so adorable. I love seeing photos of animals. They are all so gorgeous! I love the way you captured them all.
Holy moly! These shots are amazing! I love pet photography when it’s done well, and you do it very well.
I love this so much! My husband and I adopted a second dog last year, and he is a black chihuahua. We discovered that black dogs are less likely to be adopted, which made me so sad. All of these animals are gorgeous, and the photography is wonderful!
This is amazing! I love looking at the photos. They are all so beautiful!
Love the photographs and am so happy she is doing of black dogs as they are the ones that are hardest to get adopted in shelters, thank you. I think photographs in the winter are magical compared to the summer especially when the dog is black, such a contrast
OMG these are so amazing. I love the coloring, the use of depth of field, framing, movement … fabulous.
The shot of the dog jumping in the air is outstanding! But it’s the mini panthers that speak to me. Getting a good picture of a black cat can be hard especially if they aren’t into modeling. My Persian turns into a furball in most pictures
Gorgeous photos! I remember when all I could take was black and white photographs and was so excited when the first full-color camera came out. Now, I have changed some photos to black and white because they are so beautiful.
I love these black and white photos. It’s nice to see the feline subjects too! My favorite fosters happened to be tuxedo cats.
Wow, what an awesome project with beautiful pictures! I don’t think I could pick a favorite. I love the mood the photos create.
Totally amazing, not black and white every time but such a subtle colour palette you have to admire the creativity and the gorgeous pet.
I love Chantal’s work. She’s the ultimate badass in dog photography.