Candice C. Cusic Photography

09/24/2026

“I’m small but mighty. I have feelings too. I’m important too.” — Peanut

Before Peanut met his foster, he says he felt alone and unneeded.

Then Michelle took a chance on him.

“I feel so much healthier. It doesn’t hurt every day. I have a new life now and I’m forever grateful. I won’t take this life for granted.”

🐾 Peanut is available for adoption through SAYv Animal Organization. If Peanut feels like your kind of little guy, reach out to SAYv to learn more about adopting him.

Peanut is part of THE SEE HEAR LOVE PROJECT™.

SEEN · HEARD · LOVED.

09/17/2026

THE FIRST FULL-LENGTH FILM FROM THE SEE HEAR LOVE PROJECT™ IS HERE. ❤️

Meet Nori and Wasabi, a bonded mother and son looking for their forever home together.

I connected with them telepathically to hear their thoughts, feelings and what they wanted people to know.

During his communication, Wasabi told me he would give Gabriella, the woman caring for him, all of his toys to make her smile.

Then he wondered if she needed a ribbon or a string—because those are the things that cheer him up.

And Nori had her own story to tell.

This is what The See Hear Love Project™ was created to do: combine animal communication, portraiture and documentary film so animals can participate in telling their own stories.

We don't simply tell a story about an animal.

We tell it with them.

Nori and Wasabi are available for adoption through SAYv Animal Organization. If their story speaks to you, please share it. Somewhere out there is the person who is supposed to find them.

One animal. One story. One film created to help them find a home.

SEEN. HEARD. LOVED.

09/09/2026

**YOUR DOG DOESN’T HAVE TO KNOW HOW TO MODEL. 🐾**

We’re the only Chicago portrait studio with a professional animal trainer at every session.

Your dog gets to be a dog. We take care of the rest.

09/09/2026

YOUR DOG DOESN’T HAVE TO KNOW HOW TO MODEL.

Cusic Photography is the only Chicago portrait studio with a professional animal trainer at every session.

You relax. We’ve got your dog. 🖤

CHICAGO PET PHOTOGRAPHY | CUSIC PHOTOGRAPHY | MOMENT-DRIVEN PHOTOGRAPHY™

08/27/2026

THE SEE HEAR LOVE PROJECT™ | NORI + WASABI

“Does she need a ribbon or a string? Because that cheers me up.” ❤️

During his animal communication session, Wasabi told me he would give Gabriella all of his toys to make her smile. Then he wondered if she needed a ribbon or a string—because those are the things that cheer him up.

Wasabi came to the studio with his mom, Nori, for The See Hear Love Project™, where animals participate in telling their own stories through animal communication, portraiture and film.

Nori and Wasabi are available for adoption through SAYv Animal Organization. If their story speaks to you, maybe their forever home is with you. ❤️

Sometimes love sounds like something enormous.

And sometimes it sounds like:

“I would give you all of my toys.”

Seen. Heard. Loved.

08/25/2026

https://cusicphoto.com/bored-panda-see-hear-love-animal-films/

Bored Panda has featured The See Hear Love Project™ through the portraits, words and stories of 11 rescue animals. The See Hear Love Project is the world’s only documentary storytelling project told from the animal’s perspective. Through animal communication, shelter and rescue animals share t...

08/23/2026

This is pretty exciting.

**Bored Panda just featured The See Hear Love Project.**

The See Hear Love Project is the world’s only documentary storytelling project told from the animal’s perspective.

Through animal communication, shelter and rescue animals share their own stories, and we create fine-art portraits and documentary films to help them be seen, heard, and adopted.

I’m incredibly grateful to the rescues who trusted us with their animals and their stories:

One Tail at a Time
SAYv Animal Organization
Red Door
Hinsdale Humane Society
Chicagoland Pig Rescue

**Read the Bored Panda feature:**
https://www.boredpanda.com/see-hear-love-animal-project-cusicphoto/

**Watch The See Hear Love Project:**
https://youtube.com/shorts/18yGgXeEX-0?si=xp8lSbNR8OkKkSX8

For shelter and rescue animals, being seen as an individual can mean the difference between finding a home and being overlooked when their time is running out. Former Chicago Tribune photojournalist and member of a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting team Candice C. Cusic has launched a heartwarming in...

08/21/2026

Twenty-nine years ago, I made this photograph. I can hardly believe I’m seeing it again.

When I was a young college student at UNC-Chapel Hill, Scott Sharpe spoke to our photojournalism class. He suggested I spend the night at the homeless shelter so I could get closer to the family I was photographing. It was brilliant advice. I did.

Years later, I was lucky enough to work with Scott at The News & Observer before joining the Chicago Tribune. Now his wonderful project of reconnecting with stories and photographs from the archives has brought me back to this moment.

I knew instantly this photograph was mine because she touched her face.

Anyone who has been my student or heard me talk about photography at conferences around the world knows I watch the hands. A hand to the face. Hands on hips. Those small, unguarded gestures can tell you everything.

I didn’t know 29 years ago how much those moments would come to define the way I see.

If I could go back and tell that young photographer one thing, it would be: Trust your eye. You will always be a storyteller.

Thank you, Scott. You are one of my photography treasures. Scott Sharpe

We tracked down a first-year student from an old photo of a UNC move-in nearly 30 years ago. It represented a full circle moment.