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Interview and images provided courtesy of Jonathan Ball publishers and HarperCollins UK. No redistribution of the images may be used without express permission.
Carli Davidson is an award-winning photographer, and an animal trainer and caretaker. Her photos have been featured in national and international news publications, photography magazines, TV Shows, and websites, including Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, the New York Times, Oprah, Good Day New York, Huffington Post, Wall Street Journal, Photo District News, and National Geographic.
Following the success of her previous book, SHAKE, SHAKE PUPPIES, Carli Davidson has released a new instalment of photographs featuring the adorable fur-babies shaking all over the place. The result is of course, an explosion of the most adorable, HILARIOUS, and delightful images of pups in various states of wiggles and shakes.
And today, we’re lucky enough to feature a Q & A with Carli, along with coo-worthy doggie pics for you to go gaga over.
1. How (and when) did Shake Puppies come about?
Shake Puppies was inspired by my friend Hanna Ingrams’s second grade class. I showed the students a test presentation for Shake the day before it released, and their reaction was so moving that I decided to ask my favorite audience and professional connoisseurs of all out joy—kids—for a critique.
What did they want to see? Their response: puppies and colors!
I was also drawn to the idea of surrounding myself with puppies. It was almost medicinal—spending the day overdosing on cuteness.
I love making books that focus on animals. I love knowing that these pictures can make people smile. While I feel a strong ethical responsibility to keep up with current events, these feel good creative projects to keep me from feeling hardened. They are mini escapes from the important but harsh realities we have in our faces 24/7.
Name/Age/Breed: Annie/7 weeks/Cavilear King Charles Spaniel
2. Any hilarious puppy stories to share?
When I had whole litters come in I would knock on the other office doors in my building and recruit babysitters, so I built a lot of good will with people who have probably cursed me for a barking dog or two in the past.
There was no shortage of cracking up on set: puppies falling asleep under the warm modeling lights, falling over after a long shake, attacking shoe laces, peeing on my camera bag. They were little clowns there for our entertainment.
Name/Age/Breed: Annie/7 weeks/Cavilear King Charles Spaniel
3. So you adopted a dog during the making of Puppies, right?
I did! I am a huge supporter of animal rescue, and really want that message to come though in this book. I fell in love and it was absolutely not what I expected.
I had a hunch I would end up adopting one of my young models since my own puppy Norbert is now nine years old and I wanted a friend to keep him active in his old age.
But my concern was that with my busy and travel-heavy lifestyle, raising a puppy would be a challenge. Also the puppy models who were in rescue were getting adopted so fast!
Name/Age/Breed: Vincent/8 weeks/Dauchund
My neighbor came by my house and told me about an eight-year-old schnauzer whose owner had moved into convalescence due to dementia and was in need of a new home.
Since he was a senior many rescues had rejected him and the family was desperate. I jumped at the opportunity to help him and agreed to take him as a foster.
4. Do you have any new projects you’re working on/ what are you working on now?
Well I have one more book I’ll be working on in the “Shake Trilogy,” and I have three other projects that I’ve been producing for the last few years that I’m excited to revisit afterwards.
Name/Age/Breed: Vincent/8 weeks/Dauchund
5. How did you shoot Shake Puppies? Did you have to wait around a lot to get those moments?
I shot Shake Puppies both in my studio and on location in people’s homes. It was much harder to find models for this book than it was for my first Shake book for a couple of reasons. First off, I needed puppies and finding dogs of that were under a year old proved to be more challenging than I anticipated.
Secondly, it was also difficult to find puppies because I refused to work with unethical breeders. I worked with rescue shelters and pet owners as much as possible.
Name/Age/Breed: Koda/20 weeks/Pomeranian
I also worked closely with my production assistant who happens to run an animal rescue and who helped make sure that any breeders we worked with were philosophically in line with both of us.
This meant that instead of just finding breeders in Portland, Oregon we sometimes had to pack up and drive down to California so we could feel good about the shoot! The puppies were easier to photograph than the adult dogs. I think they were just more sensitive to moisture and being tussled.
We were also training while I was shooting, so the studio environment was new and exciting. I made sure to make it a positive experience for the puppies: we played with them, gave them lots of treats, and got them familiar with the gear before the shoot.
Name/Age/Breed: Koda/20 weeks/Pomeranian
Each pup took about an hour. I shot them on a relatively small set using high-speed lighting and a Nikon D4 camera.
6. How many separate dogs did you shoot for Shake Puppies?
I shot about 100 puppies for the book, and used about seventy. It’s always hard cutting the number of models down because I want to represent all the generous people that helped me out by bringing their dogs and giving me their time.
Name/Age/Breed: Meatball/10 Weeks/Pit bull
7. What were some specific challenges you faced working with puppies this time around?
There were some challenges and struggles that I wasn’t expecting upon starting puppies that gave it much more weight, particularly working in rescues, where I saw puppies in need of homes. I had to resist becoming a hoarder myself, and with people struggling with their new puppies behaviors.
Watching two species struggle to communicate with each other is hard, and when one of them is a baby it is even harder. I just wanted to do everything I could to help the relationship. I played animal family therapist a lot and gave out a bunch of trainers’ names and book recommendations.
Name/Age/Breed: Meatball/10 Weeks/Pit bull
I was even inspired to put a note in the back of the book about training and relationship building. Most dogs end up in a rescue when they are about a year old and so much of the reason is a lack of understanding. I want to use this platform to combat that.
8. What’s the ultimate goal of your photographic work?
To tell honest stories about animals or people in our lives that inspire curiosity, and to hopefully help people recognize the sameness of all creatures.
Name/Age/Breed: Josie/12 weeks/Boxer
Also I often think of the Dali Lama’s quote “It is very important to generate a good attitude, a good heart, as much as possible. From this, happiness in both the short term and the long term for both yourself and others will come.”
As I’ve struggled with depression and general emotional burnout in my life, I look to uplifting stories and imagery to keep me balanced. I hope others can take that away from my images, too.
Name/Age/Breed: Josie/12 weeks/Boxer
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