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Illustrations editor Kurt Mutchler explains why choosing a winning photo sometimes just comes down to space.
Cut It? “This photo is interesting because the wolf, dog, and computerized robot represent something of an evolutionary line,” says illustrations editor Kurt Mutchler. “But that created a problem: The image simply required more words to explain than the one we went with on the opening spread of the story.”
Or Keep It? “I was fascinated that one of the most common robots in people’s homes today is the toy, Aibo, which looks like a dog,” Mutchler continues. “The photo makes people aware that there’s new technology continually coming down the road that will impact us even as it pertains to our pets. And the way Koda and Simon were looking at the robot—as if to say ‘What’s going on?’—made this picture perfect for Final Edit.”
Photograph by Robert Clark, wolf and Maltese dog provided by Doug Seus's Wasatch Rocky Mountain Wildlife, Utah
Facing the Future Even with its battery removed, an Aibo robot got the full attention of Koda the wolf and Simon the Maltese during a studio shoot. Koda, a trained captive-born wolf, had worked with Simon but not with the robot. At first he moved away from the motionless Aibo, says photographer Robert Clark. Then, curious, he sniffed it and chewed off a plastic ear. Doug Seus, Koda’s owner and trainer, says that while dogs can easily form new relationships after they are about six months old, wolves are genetically programmed not to accept strangers. “It’s a built-in survival technique to limit the size of the pack.” Confronted with the unknown, wolves are either extremely timid or extremely aggressive, he says. “They may look like a big dog, but they are psychologically different.”
Learn more about the feature story this photo was originally taken for.
