Dina Fantegrossi is the Assistant Editor and Head Writer for HomeLife Media. Before her career in writing, Dina was a veterinary technician for more than 15 years.Read more
What do you do when life gives you lemons? Arrange them in a bowl, pose an adorable dog next to them, and snap some pics!
29-year-old Elias Weiss Freidman had a comfortable, but boring corporate desk job when a round of layoffs left him reevaluating his future. He took a trip to Europe to clear his head and posted photos of the dogs he met on Instagram accompanied by funny captions. His followers loved them, and soon, The Dogist was born!
Friedman got the name for his new venture from the popular fashion blog, The Sartorialist, that features the latest styles spotted on the streets of New York City.
Rather than scoping out the city streets for fashion trends, Friedman began searching for cute dogs. Luckily, there is no shortage of them in NYC!
Since 2013 he has racked up 2.6 million Instagram followers and photographed more than 25,000 dogs in cities all over the world.
In 2015 he released a best-selling book of The Dogist’s greatest shots, and has a second book, The Dogist Puppies, coming out in September.
“About a year and a half in, I signed a book deal,” Friedman told BuzzFeed. “As my following grew, more advertisers reached out.”
Friedman suddenly found himself in the midst of a successful new career – doing something he would happily do for free!
Four years in, The Dogist remains wildly popular. Friedman travels the world on a whim, makes his own hours and gets paid to play with puppies. Talk about the American Dream!
Most days, he chooses a particular area of New York to hunt for dogs. Friedman heads out armed with the tools of his trade – camera, knee pads, treats, tennis balls, and squeaky toys.
He isn’t above barking, growling and making weird sounds to get his subjects to look into the lens.
Friedman is definitely living a dog lover’s dream, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t hard work involved. Whether rain, sleet, snow or oppressive summer heat, he is out there every day walking the streets.
“I don’t take days off because my life would be less exciting without The Dogist,” he shared. “I somehow found great purpose in carrying a camera and a squeaky tennis ball, so why miss any opportunity to put them to use, especially when it makes so many people happy?”
Not to mention the fact that inclement weather often yields some amazing shots!
“The most challenging days to shoot — snow, rain, etc. — are often the days when I make my most memorable images,” he said.
Follow The Dogist on Instagram and Facebook for daily doses of canine fabulousness as they frolic in their city habitat!
