community. The situation that homeless and displaced animals face nationwide is startling; locally, it is devastating. The economic downturn has stripped many families of the resources to care for their pets, leading them to surrender them to a rescue or simply abandon them on the roadside or in the Everglades. Miami Dade Animal Services has 250 spaces for cats and dogs, and it is estimated that they euthanize 200-300 per day. In 1998, Jill Wittels created Helping Homeless Animals, a no kill rescue that has placed hundreds of animals over the years.No Kill is an exhibition of photographs from Project Fashion Tails, an initiative started by Wittels and designer Eva Danielle to educate the public about the plight of these animals. No Kill features the work of 40 world-renowned fashion photographers. Each photographs a model with an animal from a Miami rescue. Striking a balance between couture and ethical responsibility, these works present an opportunity for the worlds of fashion, art, and activism to combine in order to save innocent lives. The photographs, which explore all aspects of the fashion shoot, respond to a long tradition of photographing animals alongside humans. In their ornate decadence and candid approach, the images reach back through the history of photography. They update Richard Avedon’s classic images of Nastassja Kinski with the serpent and Audrey Hepburn with her cat. In their more informal moments, we think of Garry Winogrand, who was equally capable of photographing animals at the zoo and models on the street. In their conceptual poise, William Wegman’s photographs of his weimaraners come to mind. Most recently, there are Ryan McGinley’s unexpected combinations of nudes and animals. While these connections might help place the images in history, they are somehow beside the point. No Kill isn’t about art, nor is it about fashion; it’s about helping animals.

For more information, please see helpinghomelessanimals.org.