Photo:
Karen Ngo with Emma

Indognito: A Book of Canines in Costume is part tribute and part payback to Ngo’s pooches and more. It’s a compelling coffee table book that steps beyond the bounds of typical and enters a MUST BE VIEWED arena. 28 varieties of breeds are featured in Indognito. The title alludes to being in disguise but nothing could be farther from the truth. Ngo effortlessly captures a soulful, humorous and canine-centric thoughtfulness about her subjects. There’s an intellectual Annie Leibovitz essence within Ngo’s Indognito images that subliminally link to imaginary commentary that doesn’t require actual words. The power of the book is in its creative lighthearted delivery of well-intended laughter and smiles.

WOOF Patrol: When did your secret life into the world of dog photography start?

Karen Ngo, Photographer & Designer: I had the good fortune to work with some talented, professional photographers while working as a creative director in the fashion industry. I was also a photography hobbyist. A critical part of photography is finding interesting and compelling subjects to photograph. When I adopted my first dog, Martini, in 2002, she was incredibly cute at 12 weeks old and she became my muse. I think it's pretty normal when people get their first dogs to take a lot of pictures of him/her. I just went dog crazy. A few years later, I opened up a dog boutique called Scout in NYC in the East Village. Around that time, there was a magazine starting up called the New York Dog Magazine which wanted to do an article on my shop. I had a great meeting with the publisher and editor, and somehow walked out of that meeting with an opportunity to art direct one fashion shoot and to photograph the second fashion shoot. I picked a preppy fall fashion theme and when I turned in my photos, the owner of the magazine seemed a bit ambivalent and lukewarm about the shots. I just assumed that my gig was up with them and I should just retire my camera. After the magazine debuted, the editor called me and told me about the overwhelming response they were getting to my photography and they were ready to assign me my next dog fashion story. I continued photographing dogs for the New York Dog Magazine even after I closed my shop and went back to work full-time. Dog photography was always a side project. When I started getting calls from calendar, stationery and book companies who wanted to use my images, I thought, "Hmm, that's encouraging. Maybe I should take this more seriously."

K.N.: The biggest learning curve for me is having the confidence to put myself out there for creative criticism. As a creative director, you still have that element but you have a whole creative team with you for support. With dog photography, it's just me. My biggest surprise is how incredibly supportive, receptive and effusive people are when I tell them I'm a dog photographer. It's also really fulfilling to be making tangible things like photos. It's a great feeling when I get "the shot."

W.P.: In your current book Indognito you photographed over 28 breeds. Is there a breed that the camera lens gravitates towards? If so, why do you think that is?

K.N.: I think all dog breeds are uniquely wonderful to photograph. I'm always interested in finding that special quality in each individual dog I meet. Breed does play an important part visually and also in their personalities. Knowing breeds helps me to bring out joy in a dog subject's eyes and to make them happy and motivated on a shoot. For instance, if I'm photographing a Lab or a Border Collie, I use a ball to get them to focus on me. Chihuahuas are very attached to their owners. Usually Chihuahuas are not so motivated by treats when faced with a camera bigger than them so close by. So I use the actual owners as motivation for this.

I think when one gets into photographing costumed dogs, I will say it's easier to get smaller dogs to look instantly cute in costumes. I'm a big dog owner so I know the challenges of getting costumes or clothing to look natural on bigger dogs. Maybe it's the scale of the costumes...like small dogs are wearing things that can fit a stuffed animal - very cute - versus my dogs are wearing costumes that can fit a medium-sized human - not so cute. I've also run into the opinion that it seems socially acceptable to put little dogs in costumes but it's wrong to dress up big dogs. But then again, when I owned my dog boutique, I had big dog customers bemoaning the fact that there were no cute dog clothes made to fit big dogs.

W.P.: Martini is a Mountain View Cur. Can you tell us about the breed?

K.N.: It's a fairly uncommon hunting breed and we've never met another one in all our travels. She looks like a leggy, teenage blond Labrador at 45lbs. Old Yeller was a Cur. Mountain Curs were originally the pioneer dogs in the Tennessee Mountains and it's been said that these pioneers could not have settled these areas without the help of their Mountain Curs. They are not a registered breed with the AKC and are primarily bred for their hunting abilities so they are diverse in appearance and are generally hearty, healthy dogs. Mountain Curs are similar to the Catahoula.

W.P.: What do we learn from our dogs?

K.N.: My opening quote in the book is "It is a happy talent to know how to play" by Ralph Waldo Emerson. People can be really hard on themselves. They can get used to being motivated more by fear than joy. My dogs remind me to make it a priority to find ways to bring into my life the kind of happiness and joy that I feel when I am in "play" mode.