You may have noticed the occasional similarities between dog owners and their pets. The elegant blonde and her Afghan hound. That stocky chap and his bulldog.
Well, photographer Sebastian Magnani has taken it just that little bit further by splicing the features of some of our four-legged friends with their owners.
In a series called Underdogs, the Swiss photographer shot the owners and their respective pets in the same portrait style.
Then he used expert photo-manipulation techniques to transplant the canine faces onto the human bodies.
There is some substance to the theory that people choose pets that resemble themselves. Back in 2009 scientists found members of the public could predict which breed of dog a person would own, just by looking at a photograph of the owners.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Dr Lance Workman, from Bath Spa University conceded: “There is a little bit of truth in the theory that owners look like their dogs.”
He continued: “But if you are of a robust build you will probably have a more robust dog so that you get lots of exercise. If you are more slight you may want a poodle as you think that they need less exercise.”
The study saw 70 people asked to match 41 dog owners, found through the Kennel Club, to their breeds. They were correct between 50 and 60 per cent of the time, whereas chance suggests they should have had a success rate of around 33 per cent.
Dr Workman added: “What this study shows is that you shouldn’t judge a person by their dog, but we all do.”
