John Ashbey Collection of Dog Show Photography

"For half a century, John Ashbey has been behind the lens at America's most pretigious shows, wrote the AKC Gazette in 2008, "Like Rolex and Mercedes, John Ashbey's name has become synonymous with quality."

John Ashbey (b. 1944) was raised in the world of dogdom during its golden era. His father Frank served as kennel manager at Arlock Acres for Collies, and on weekends travelled shows all over New England with the family in tow, which only escalated when he quit his job to become an all-breed handler. His sons John and David would perform basic grooming, carry water, and sometimes escort the dogs into the ring for him, and eventually developed interests in photography after befriending reknowned East coast show photographers William Brown and Evelyn Shafer. They were interrupted in their intents to study under the tutelage of these vets to work for the U.S. Navy. From 1963 to 1967 John photographed pilot missions in North Vietnam. Following his tour of duty, he began apprenticing under William Gilbert, who had taken over Brown's business following his death in 1963.

It was Ashbey however that taught Gilbert the principles of color photography, moving the dog scene out of its strictly black-and-white world. He officially took over Shafer's business in 1976, shooting that year's Westminster Kennel Club dog show under her name, he subsequently and still remains its official photographer. Together with his team, including brother David, he shoots approximately 200 shows a year across the East Coast of the United States.