The Genuinely Interested Podcast Ep 33 - Elias Weiss Friedman - The Dogist
Elias is the mastermind behind the wildly successful Instagram account The Dogist. Elias has shot over 40,000 dogs over the last 8 years or so, and according to him, this is just the beginning.
The importance of the story is a vital part of any image, especially when photographing dogs. Dogs don't have egos and do not change the way they behave, or express themselves differently, in front of a camera. Henceforth, the reaction or expression that you get from them is the rawest possible.
After getting laid off from his corporate job, Elias found a way to turn a negative into a positive. He decided to follow his passion and he saw an opportunity to photograph man's best friend. With knee pads in one hand and a camera in the other, he walked the streets for hours looking for interesting dogs. Only through commitment, perseverance, and a creative outlook was he able to, day in and day out, put out great content and gradually build a community of followers while building his brand.
We had a great chat about dogs, dogs, and more dogs (!), but also about his journey, career, childhood, and the difficulty of street photography. Approaching strangers on the street is no easy feat, but doing anything consistently will lead to improvement. We talked about his social media brand and some future projects on the horizon. This is a great episode for dog lovers and non-dog lovers (who are those people? ) alike.
Enjoy the Podcast
My Take - Perseverance pays off, even when your dream seems to be farfetched, unattainable, and against all odds. Your only course of action is to tackle it head-on and persist with the force of a bull. If you do not believe in your dream, no one will. I also believe that dogs complete humans in a way no other animal can and in a way that sometimes even other humans can't. This is partly why the Dogist has been successful - he portrays our best friend in an honest and fun way, making it even easier for us to connect with the images.
Comments, requests or questions, please reach out - my email is roybntz@gmail.com