Fred Levy is an animal photographer. For his latest project, he photographed black dogs on a black background. You may be asking yourselves, “Why?”

According to a statement on the Black Dogs Project Tumblr page, Levy said, “This photo series started after a conversation about how black dogs have a harder time getting adopted than other dogs. I decided to start a photo series photographing black dogs on a black background in my studio. Using social media, I recruited local dog owners who have black dogs to photograph. It’s an amazing journey that will become a book in the fall of 2015.”

Whether or not black dogs truly have a harder time getting adopted is up for debate, since there isn’t much by way of official statistics proving this. Some organizations believe strongly in Black Dog Syndrome, in which black dogs are passed over because of their color, while other organizations believe color has nothing to do with why people adopt a pet.

Levy contends that it does exist and that the reasoning for lack of adoption may be due to the portrayal of black dogs in the media as well as the poor quality of photographs that are often used in attempts to get these dogs adopted.

“Sometimes [adopters] look at the picture and just see a silhouette and just see white eyes. That might be creepy,” Levy told Boston.com.

His solution was to photograph these dogs in a favorable light. Check out some of his photographs at Fred Levy Photography. Once you do, let us know what you think. Will these photographs result in more black pets being adopted? Do you think Black Dog Syndrome exists?