9Kviews
I Love Photographing Dogs, Here Are 28 Of My Pictures I Took Of Stray Dogs I Encountered In Cape Verde
9Kviews
Hi everyone,
My name is Zoltan. I’m a passionate portrait and travel photographer. I do a lot of dog portraits, I love photographing dogs, but when I travel I photograph the landscape and the everyday life of the people. I don’t even take my portrait lenses with me, because you know, you have to save as much room as you can. I usually just take my camera and my 18-35 mm lens.
A few years ago, my then-fiancee Agnes and I traveled to Sal, Cape Verde. When we arrived, we were a bit shocked to see the huge number of stray dogs there. I just knew that I had to photograph them and I thought I made a mistake not bringing my portrait lenses with me, but the funny thing is that in the end, I was happy that I could only use my wide-angle lens. I had to get close to them and we had to have a connection and I loved that.
More info: Instagram | Facebook | thesoulofmylens.co.uk
This post may include affiliate links.
You Have A New Customer
The images are more like environmental portraits that show more about how the dogs live. All the dogs were so friendly and so calm. Some of them were very playful, and some were a little sad. Some of them even had collars on, so I assumed they had owners, but they were still hanging around with the others on the streets or on the beach.
I think locals see them as part of everyday life, they even feed them sometimes and they also get fed by tourists.
Fun In The Sand
Beau In The Sunrise
I'm so glad that we have no stray dogs here in Austria. Because then I would have a whole house full of dogs and no more money to pay my bills. but when i think about it, I would rather have 100 dogs than a house without dogs but with money..
There was one special dog who stole our hearts. We met him on the first day of our holiday and he basically stayed with us for the whole time. He waited for us every morning in front of our accommodation and we spent every day together. We loved him so much that we decided to rescue him and we named him Beau. We took him to the vet in Santa Maria and they were so friendly and helpful, we got him microchipped and vaccinated and we took him with us.
Beau has been living with us and our other dog Alfie for about 4 years now. We love him to bits. Especially my wife. They have a special connection and he is a real mommy's boy. Ever since we met Beau, we have been trying to support the dogs at Cape Verde. We were so lucky to find a group of people who helped us get Beau to England. Some of them live on the island and regularly go out to feed the stray dogs and take them to the vet. Some other group members, just like us, rescued dogs from there and we try to support them as much as possible, like sending them some money for food and vet bills.
My journey as a photographer started in 2013. It was my hobby back then and I had only been doing it for about a year.
I started posting my photos on Facebook where they soon began attracting more and more attention. Initially, I would mainly shoot landscapes and portraits, and I was doing 365 and 52-week photo projects on the side, which helped me develop my photography skills.
One day a girl named Agnes contacted me to take photos of her five-month-old American Staffordshire puppy called Alfie (now our dog Alfie). It was my very first dog photography session and it was a significant one. That day I fell in love not just with dog photography, but also with Agnes who is now my wife.
I think the most challenging part of photographing dogs is to make them look at the camera. My dog Alfie, for example, always turns away when I ask him to look into the camera. I have a few tricks I use to get their attention, though. I always have treats with me and whistles that make funny noises or squeaky toys, and I usually ask the owner to stand behind me and call the dog.
The Morning Sunshine On The Streets
Our dog is almost 8 and was a stray from Cape Verde. She came over as a pup, long story, she has given us so much love and joy...Mia...thank you for sharing these beautiful photos...unfortunately we met so many other loveable dogs that were not so lucky
Street Life
Heartbreaking, i wouldn't be able to walk past and not take him/her with me.
A Young Guard
Aw, this poor little puppy looks really thin. Could use a deworming and a few good meals.
Agnes And Beau.
Santa Maria Pier
Googled this - a number of these dogs, particularly with collars are actually owned and loved, but are traditionally allowed to roam at will - they come home for food and in bad weather. The authorities in the past have been poisoning them with strychnine - including people's pets.
A Good Scratch On The Beach
Santa Maria Beach
Praia De Igrejinha
Colombus Beach
He looks like he is curious or wants to play. Like hey what you doing you come to play
Sharks Bay
There are worse places for stray dogs. Most of these look pretty healthy and well-fed.
Yeah, they seemed to be smart enough to hang out at the beach where tourists will probably feed them. Some even had collars, so I don't think all these are strays.
Interesting and nice pictures of stray doggies in Sal. These photos reminded me when I went to the capital (Praia, in another island of Cabo Verde) in 2010 and took a single stray dog picture. 31290_1346...f26eba.jpg
Now I know that Cape Verde is a place, where I probably should not go. I probably end up taking one or more of those dogs home. On the one hand, those are lovely dogs and the place seems to be quite beautiful. On the other, I was wondering, if there is anyone taking care of the problem. The reason for that many stray dogs clearly is that they are not being spayed. As if it is often the situation in countries, where people are having other problems in their everyday life. It clearly got out of hands, like in many countries. It is just sad to see. In the way people of a country treat their animals, you can see what society they are living in. Still, thanks for sharing all those photos with us. In the end, they are still beautiful dogs and they do not know that there is a better life. They are just living the live they were offered.
Animals living free without being owned like slaves is just natural and not a problem if they are healthy like these dogs here clearly are living a full life off freedom. Taking a dog in to live as a pet is not always what the animal would choose. In many cities dogs find enough food and water and are just fine without any human giving them pitty or wanting to save them simply by putting a rope around neck. Freedom is not the worst fate for a dog.
There are worse places for stray dogs. Most of these look pretty healthy and well-fed.
Yeah, they seemed to be smart enough to hang out at the beach where tourists will probably feed them. Some even had collars, so I don't think all these are strays.
Interesting and nice pictures of stray doggies in Sal. These photos reminded me when I went to the capital (Praia, in another island of Cabo Verde) in 2010 and took a single stray dog picture. 31290_1346...f26eba.jpg
Now I know that Cape Verde is a place, where I probably should not go. I probably end up taking one or more of those dogs home. On the one hand, those are lovely dogs and the place seems to be quite beautiful. On the other, I was wondering, if there is anyone taking care of the problem. The reason for that many stray dogs clearly is that they are not being spayed. As if it is often the situation in countries, where people are having other problems in their everyday life. It clearly got out of hands, like in many countries. It is just sad to see. In the way people of a country treat their animals, you can see what society they are living in. Still, thanks for sharing all those photos with us. In the end, they are still beautiful dogs and they do not know that there is a better life. They are just living the live they were offered.
Animals living free without being owned like slaves is just natural and not a problem if they are healthy like these dogs here clearly are living a full life off freedom. Taking a dog in to live as a pet is not always what the animal would choose. In many cities dogs find enough food and water and are just fine without any human giving them pitty or wanting to save them simply by putting a rope around neck. Freedom is not the worst fate for a dog.