King Street Pets, Brighouse: where it all started
Every project has a first door. For my Brighouse BID project, where I photographed 36 businesses across the town, the first door was King Street Pets.
The brief was simple and right up my street. I wasn't there for tidy shopfronts and a few product shots. I was there to tell the story of each business through the people who run it. If you're going to start a project like that, a pet shop with a chocolate Labrador on the shop floor isn't a bad place to begin.
A small shop with a lot packed in
King Street Pets sits at 7 King Street in Brighouse town centre. From the outside it looks like a neat little independent. Inside, every wall is working hard. There are treats, leads, coats, cat toys, bird feeders, shampoos, bowls, hay and tins, all floor to ceiling, and somehow you can still find exactly what you came in for.
King Street Pets is a family-owned business, and when I visited, it was Danielle behind the counter. She's the sort of person who knows half her customers' dogs by name and can tell you which chew will keep a teething puppy busy for more than five minutes.
A proper family business
This is the bit I love. Danielle's mum was in the shop too, along with Danielle's two kids, and when I asked to get everyone in a shot the counter turned into a bench, and the giggles started.
You can't stage that kind of laughter. You just have to be ready when it happens. It's also the best advert a family business can have. You can see exactly who you're buying from.
The kids were great company too. Give a five-year-old a wall of dog treats and a Labrador and you've got all the direction you need.
My favourite picture from the whole day is this one. The cheeky chap is right up in the lens, and in the background someone is very unimpressed with my photography.
The treat wall
If you've got a dog, this is where your money goes. King Street Pets has a proper wall of natural treats, sold by the piece from labelled tubs. There are duck feet, rabbit ears, ostrich fillets, pizzle ends, pigs' ears, yak rolls, buffalo trachea and meaty deer ribs. Most of the small bits are 80p each, or cheaper if you buy a handful, so you can mix and match without committing to a giant bag of something your dog might turn its nose up at.
Then there are the meaty sticks: venison, rabbit, wild boar, beef and veg, and beef and cheese. There's even black pudding, because this is Yorkshire.
Not just for dogs
Cats are well looked after here too. There's a whole wall of catnip toys and a shelf of Canagan tins, plus treats and bedding for rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters, and seed, suet and feeders for the birds in your garden.
The everyday essentials
Then there's everything you actually need. There are leads, harnesses, poop bags, flea treatments, ear cleaner, shampoo and toothpaste, all things you'd otherwise end up ordering online and waiting three days for.
The toys were a bit of a riot. There was a tiger, an elephant, a very fluffy duck and the Very Hungry Caterpillar. I'd have been happy to take half of them home myself.
Why I shoot independent shops this way
I've been doing personal brand photography for over 20 years, and shops like this are still one of my favourite things to photograph. People buy from people. When you can see who's behind the counter, and who's sniffing your shopping bag, you feel like you already know the place before you've walked in.
The products matter too. People want to know what they can actually buy, so every shoot is a mix of honest portraits and the stuff on the shelves.
If you run an independent shop or small business in Brighouse, Huddersfield or anywhere in West Yorkshire and want photos that look like you rather than a stock library, get in touch.
This post is part of my Brighouse BID series, telling the stories of 36 businesses across Brighouse. If you missed the last one, have a look inside Simply Divine Things, an independent gift shop packed with Yorkshire makers.