Adorable shelter dogs find forever homes thanks to passionate fashion photographer
When fashion photographer Richard Phibbs started photographing dogs in an effort to donate his services to the Humane Society of New York, he never intended for the portraits to end up in a book.
As he recounted to AOL.com, "I was taking pictures, doing portraits of dogs, in order to get them homes. That's the purpose of the pictures, right? And when I started to do it four years ago, it proved to be [super effective] -- there was a great success rate, more traffic at the shelter, and the dogs were adopted more smoothly and quickly."
However, despite him never predicting it, you can see 60-plus of Phibbs' pup portraits in his new book, "Rescue Me," out October 25 -- and the way the project came about is a perfect example of how successful Phibbs' efforts can be.
"Aperture approached me -- after the executive director of [the publishing company] adopted his dog from a picture he had seen. So he came and approached me and said, 'Would you consider doing a book?' That's how it all sort of unfolded," Phibbs explained.
Phibbs' Instagram is full of his animal portraits, but get a small taste below:
While each and every dog's story in "Rescue Me" will undoubtedly tug at your heartstrings (the majority of the featured pooches have found forever homes), one dog's journey in particular touched Phibbs himself.
One of my favorites is Little Lowell. He was a dog that was found in a carrier left on the street on a really hot day. He had been in this carrier we don't know for how long. The police found him and they didn't know even what kind of animal it was. And if you saw the pictures of this guy before, it's heartbreaking. But what's so amazing is his rehabilitation and his recovery. So his picture is really special to me and important, because I was so determined to give Little Lowell the dignity that he deserved.
And the best part is Little Lowell has his only Instagram, so I can see how his life is now, and he has the most amazing family.
You can see Little Lowell and learn more about him in the new book.
Not only does Phibbs have a special connection to Little Lowell, but he also ended up rescuing one of the other dogs he photographed, named Finn. Take a peek at the cutie:
At the end of the day, Phibbs' ultimate hope for the book is simple: "Photography has this ability to speak the truth. And I think these photographs speak the truth. And what I hope people do is that they see this book and are more enlightened of the value of shelter dogs and the value of all living beings."
And now that he's has ventured into the publishing world, he doesn't seem to be turning back.
"I have a huge volume of cats as well, I have hundreds of cats. We can certainly do a cat book as well."
We're already sold, to be honest.
