Johnny Magee
On Dog Hair and Sand
On Dog Hair and Sand was published by Cornerhouse Publications in 1996. The book is a portrait of the South Yorkshire Police. This was my first large scale work involving documentation. The book concentrated on police training, rather than front line events (i.e. detective stories on television). As with the Hospital Laundry work, I wanted to bring a strong sense of aethetic to what is considered routine and dull. The book's title takes its meaning from the surface police horses were trained on..... traditionally a mixture of dog hair and sand which gave the 'perfect' balance beween firmness and softness for the horse's hoofs. Darren Umney wrote the texts, I took the photographs.
Police diver searching for gun
Diver prepares to search canal
Wet Suits
horses often roll in the sawdust
Horse 'print'
horse training on hair and sand surface
Horse training on hair and sand surface
Searching for spent gun cartridges
Bullets
Police Dog
Police dog handler
Maps
Policewoman with Radio
"DOCUMENTATION"
Johnny Magee talks to conference during cHAT week at Sanskriti, Delhi, India. March 2007
Click on image to open QuickTime movie
