Vivi's Story

She made news around the world.

Vivi,a white and brown whippet, escaped from her crate at JFK Airport in NYC as she was preparing to return home from the Westminster Kennel Club Show in February 2006.  Despite a massive dog hunt, first on the huge grounds of the airport, then in the streets of New York, she remains at large, although she continues to be sighted frequently.

Before Vivi's fateful trip to NY, I met with Vivi's family - Bo Bengtson (Vivi's breeder), Paul Lepiane (her handler and best friend), and her owner Jil Walton - at a large, grassy equestrian center to take some photographs of Vivi.  Because of bad freeway traffic (yes, in Los Angeles), everybody was late and when we had all arrived there was barely enough light to see.  Having come all this way, however, I decided to shoot anyway just to see what I could get.  The photos weren't very good.  The shutter speed was very slow (and Vivi was very fast!), and the autofocus didn't always find the dog, so most of the shots are blurry, fuzzy, and smeared.  But Vivi had a great time, and what the photos do communicate are her grace, speed, agility, and her pure dog joy.

For the benefit of those of you who have never seen her, I have put these photos into a slide show that you can view.  You can also send a Vivi E-card.

 View Vivi's slide show

Listen to story about Vivi on NPR

Visit Vivi's BLOG and her WEBSITE

View Vivi at Westminster 2006