A photographer from Kimpton is taking on the challenge of snapping a picture of 1,000 different dogs before the end of the year to raise money for charity.
Simon Wallace is hoping his One Thousand Hounds project will raise £1,000 for animal charity Blue Cross.
Having he originally set himself a target of 100 pictures, he quickly realised he could do more, and has currently captured more than 400 photographs.
"Rather than setting myself a New Year’s resolution, I set myself something bonkers to do, so I decided to photograph 1,000 dogs this year," he told this newspaper.
"It was originally 100, but a few days in I thought I could get it done quite quickly, so I decided to up it.
"Someone then suggested that I should start selling the pictures, which I wasn’t keen on doing, so I decided to set up a JustGiving page to allow people to donate, and money will go to the Blue Cross at the end of the year.
"It’s pretty much me taking my camera with me every time I take my dog for a walk, and I just stop and ask other dog walkers if I can take a picture of their dog."
Simon has some favourite breeds he likes to photograph too, continuing: "I have a border collie, so whenever I see a collie I will try and get a picture, but that’s my personal preference.
"I like taking pictures of the rescue dogs. I’ve taken a few pictures of dogs that have come from Romania or Turkey, and they’ve got bags of character.
"The working dogs are great too. It’s hard to pick a particular favourite, but I took one of a corgi that I really love."
The Blue Cross has been helping sick, injured and homeless pets since 1897, and is a cause close to Simon's heart, with a site located in his home village of Kimpton.
"We’ve got a Blue Cross site just down the road from us, so they are very local to us and it’s such a good cause," he said.
"They do such good work with dogs and with all animals that are in need. I really hope we can raise £1,000."
To donate to Simon and the Blue Cross, visit www.justgiving.com/page/onethousandhounds.
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