Review by Dee Dee Andersson

Mastiff Images is a truly exquisite book that stands completely alone at the pinnacle of books to be coveted or owned by fanciers and lovers of the wonderful Mastiff breed. Hans Rosingh is a very gifted writer who has delivered to the readers a thoughtful blending of his own autobiography together with the memoirs of his extended Mastiff family. The author is also an extremely talented photographer who literally shares the lives of his gorgeous Mastiffs, tangibly, in breath taking photographs.

Included in this impressive volume are photographs of adorable, curious and sometimes precocious puppies, some of whom are then individually tracked through their lives until they become matrons, sires, or impressive and stately geriatrics captured in the twilight of their lives. The photographs taken by the author of his many different Mastiffs are ART in every possible sense or definition and, indeed, they reflect the author’s own personality as well.

Mastiff aficionados will drool over the section of the book dedicated to heads. One goes from head to head attempting to pinpoint which one is better than the other and why. It is simply a fruitless and impossible endeavor with no good answer. The heads are all awesome, displaying such perfect Mastiff expression and type. To me, the amazing thing is that the author was able to record his family at that exact moment in time when each showed that perfect expression. It is by no means as easy a task as Rosingh makes it appear.

Having been through the book countless times now, page after page, and then all over again, I can tell you that my favorite picture in the entire book is of Lazybones Wanda. In the photograph I love, Wanda is a glorious old girl in the bloom of age, displaying a grayed muzzle and age-whitened feet. Clearly she is a veteran, yet she is captured in her proudly playful mode with a tree branch firmly clamped in her mouth (one cannot diminish or describe something at least 3 feet long as a stick). It is a wonderfully telling photograph that squeezed my Mastiff loving heart. Nor, amongst so many notable photographs, could anybody ever overlook Lincoln. He is a total Mastiff, the perfect image of grandeur and dignity.

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