Jo Longhurst didn’t plan to be an artist. Although keen on art at school, her talents were not appreciated by the exam board. Instead, she studied Russian at Leeds University, England, and the Institute of Foreign Languages in Minsk, Byelorussia. She was drawn to the different social and political structures of the Soviet Union, and the amazing gymnasts they produced. On her return to England, she moved to London, and worked in design and communications. Longhurst returned to art by accident. She’d been ill, confined to home for too long. She started photographing the people and things around her. In the process of getting a pet dog, she came across the strange but fascinating world of dog showing; whole breeding programmes are spawned from this obsessive hobby, each devoted breeder believing their dogs to be best. Longhurst turned her camera from human to canine subjects, hoping to discover the secret of the attraction and the role of photography in shaping identity. She is smitten… but answers still evade her. She is currently studying Fine Art Photography at the Royal College of Art. She lives in London with two Whippets, and a boyfriend.