Ursula Aitchison is the British photographer behind the Instagram account @hugoandursula, where she and her two Golden Retrievers, Hugo and Huxley, pose in matching jumpers, share spaghetti, read on the London Underground and smother each other in kisses. The pictures are funny because they treat the dogs as equal partners in every scene, and touching because the affection between the three of them is obviously real. Thirty of their photos are below, each with a short note.
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Who are Ursula, Hugo and Huxley?
Ursula runs Phodography, a pet photography business. In an interview with Bored Panda she explained that the name was inspired by her late great-uncle, the Scottish painter Craigie Aitchison (1926 to 2009), whose Bedlington Terriers appeared in his paintings. Hugo came first: she had had him for nearly six years at the time of that interview. Huxley, a distantly related Golden Retriever, had joined the family only about seven months earlier, which is why he looks like a fluffy teenager in many of these shots.
She describes Hugo as charming and obsessed with food, and Huxley as clumsy and needy. Both traits show up again and again below. In a later interview with Pets Pyjamas she said the family had moved from London to the Cotswolds, and that she now also makes content teaching people to take better photos of their own dogs with a smartphone.
Twinning: matching outfits and poses
The trio in matching black roll-necks, with Hugo and Huxley in spectacles and a blue backdrop pinned to the wall with clothes pegs. The homemade set is part of the charm: these are not studio shots, just a living room and a lot of patience.
A close-up of the roll-neck look. Hugo's large glasses mirror Ursula's own, and the planet poster behind them turns up in several other photos, a clue that many of the pictures were taken in the same corner of her home.
Sunglasses and a camel trench coat for Hugo, a matching coat for Ursula, and city prints of Chicago and London on the wall. The deadpan expressions on both faces are what sell the joke.
Hoodies up for all three. Huxley's hood swamps his whole head, while Hugo wears his like a teenager who has been asked to tidy his room.
Cream cable-knit jumpers and identical sideways glances. Matching the direction of the gaze, not just the clothes, is a small detail that makes the "twin" effect work.
Mustard jumpers and round glasses on a train. The dog in the window seat looks like a commuter who has done this journey every day for years.
A cosy selfie in red tartan shirts, with Hugo filling the top half of the frame and young Huxley tucked under Ursula's chin.
Pineapples on heads, and only one of the two models is taking it seriously. Getting a dog to balance an object for a photo usually takes a calm dog, a "stay" cue and a reward the moment the shutter clicks.
Bananas as hats for Hugo and Ursula, while Huxley ignores the theme and eats one. It is a neat summary of the two dogs' personalities.
Ursula peers through two iced doughnuts; Hugo balances one on his head with his eyes politely closed.
Out in public: the Tube, the street and the park
Hugo in a shirt and tie reads the newspaper on a London Underground train, with Huxley at Ursula's feet. Dogs are allowed on the Tube in London, though they must be carried on escalators.
Another Tube ride, this time with a book called Dog held up for Hugo while Huxley sprawls across Ursula's lap in a white shirt. Fellow passengers are blurred in the background, which keeps the focus on the trio.
A recreation of a famous travel-photo pose: in the top picture a man is led by the hand through the mountains; in the bottom one, Ursula is dragged down a London street by two eager retrievers.
Ursula mimics Hugo's leg-lift by a tree on a terraced street, mid-stretch and in trainers. It is one of the silliest pictures in the set and one of the most shared.
A sunny afternoon outdoors, with both dogs and their owner sticking their tongues out at the camera.
Two selfies in a garden: first one dog kisses Ursula's cheek while the other looks on, then both lick her face at once. The lace top and soft light make it look like a summer wedding photo gone wrong.
At home with two Golden Retrievers
Two frames of a one-sided kiss. In the first Hugo licks Ursula, who looks unimpressed; in the second she licks him back and he looks equally unimpressed.
Hugo at a laptop, chin resting on a human hand that wears a watch, as if he has been stuck in a long video call. It is a simple trick, with Ursula hidden behind him, and it works because of his bored expression.
A four-frame sequence of Hugo in a blue jacket "operating" a camera on a tripod while Ursula poses on the floor of a white studio. It is a playful nod to the fact that she is usually the one behind the lens.
Hugo reads Martin Rowson's The Dog Allusion while Ursula reads Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion, the book whose title Rowson's parodies.
Swapped roles: Hugo's paws squash Ursula's cheeks, then Ursula's hands squash Huxley's. Both victims make exactly the same face.
An upside-down selfie with both dogs, shot from below so their faces hang over Ursula's like the edges of a fisheye lens. Wide-angle phone cameras make this kind of shot easy to try at home.
Lipstick kisses all over both dogs' faces, while Ursula, in bright red lipstick, keeps a perfectly straight face.
A sweet smile from Ursula and a dramatic yawn from the young Huxley beside her, caught at exactly the wrong, or right, moment.
Human legs and dog legs stretched out side by side on a bed, both sets crossed at the ankle. A shot like this needs no props, only good timing.
A "dog-shaming" photo turned around: Ursula holds a sign confessing that she blames her own wind on the dogs, while Hugo grins beside her.
Two frames of Ursula pretending to be shocked as Huxley chews her hand and then her hair. Puppies explore the world with their mouths, and young Huxley was clearly no exception.
Ursula in the bath, with Hugo resting his chin on the edge and staring at her. Many dog owners will recognise the look of a dog who refuses to be left out of anything.
A spaghetti-and-meatballs scene in the style of Lady and the Tramp, with both dogs sharing strands of pasta with Ursula. Plain cooked pasta in small amounts is generally fine for dogs, but sauces with onion or garlic are not.
Horns for Huxley, a halo for Hugo. Given the descriptions of their personalities, few readers will argue with the casting.
How she takes the pictures, and how you can too
Most of these photos are selfies or self-timer shots taken at home, not elaborate studio productions. In her Bored Panda interview Ursula gave two pieces of advice: find each dog's comfort zone, and use treats so that the dog connects the camera with something good. A few more practical points follow from that:
- Keep sessions short. A few minutes of fun beats half an hour of a bored or stressed dog.
- Introduce props slowly. Let the dog sniff a hat, glasses or jumper first, and stop if it pulls away, licks its lips or turns its head repeatedly, which are common signs of discomfort.
- Get down to their level. Nearly every photo here is taken at the dogs' eye height, which is why they feel like portraits rather than snapshots.
- Use a burst or the self-timer. The funniest frames, like Huxley's yawn, are usually the accidental ones.
Why people love these photos
Pictures of dogs dressed like their owners could easily feel like a gimmick. What keeps these from tipping over is that the dogs look relaxed and involved, and that Ursula is always willing to be the joke herself. The result is a long-running photo diary of a close friendship between one woman and two very different Golden Retrievers.
Sources: Bored Panda: interview with Ursula Aitchison; Pets Pyjamas: Me & My Pet, Ursula Daphne Aitchison; Wikipedia: Craigie Aitchison; Hugo and Ursula on Instagram. All photos © Ursula Aitchison / Phodography.
Companionship shapes the portrait
Proximity helps tell the story. A dog beside a person can change the balance of a portrait, while a familiar setting gives the encounter its domestic scale. The photographs are selected moments, with pose and framing shaping what reaches the viewer. Seen together, they develop a consistent voice without needing to explain every part of the animals' lives. The pleasure is in a relationship made visible through small, inventive choices about what belongs in the picture.
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