For the past twelve years, Elias Weiss Friedman has been bringing his passion for dogs to the forefront of the internet. He founded his Instagram page, The Dogist, in 2013, documenting New York City’s canine community as he happened upon them on the streets of the Big Apple.
From purebreds to rescue mutts, Friedman would take photos of the dogs and talk to their owners to share their stories and fun facts about their dogs.
“It started because I missed having a dog and I saw how much dogs meant to everyone around New York City, all around the world, and I wanted to document that and bring some joy to the world because we need it,” said Friedman.
Friedman has since grown his platform to include more short-form video, giving a new perspective to his work. The Dogist currently boasts more than 11 million followers across social platforms, with Friedman having photographed over 50,000 dogs across the world.
“There are a lot of great themes about dogs, whether it’s companionship, unconditional love, laughter, and everyone has their own unique way of articulating that. I wanted to help gather those stories in one place to share with the world because dogs bring people together and they’re one of the great unifiers,” said Friedman. “It brought me a lot of joy, too. My job is literally a walk in the park.”
From photographer to New York Times best seller and storyteller
Back in June, Friedman published his latest book, “This Dog Will Change Your Life,” which shot right to the #2 spot on the New York Times’ bestseller list. The book explores the connection between humans and their dogs, and how dogs truly make your life better.
“Sometimes we don’t give enough credit to our dogs. We certainly give them lots; we take pictures of them, we talk about them all the time, but no amount is enough,” said Friedman. “My book is an ode to dogs and helps people better understand how to appreciate their dogs and the ways that they changed their lives.”
Friedman is no stranger to the New York Times bestseller list — he has previously published “The Dogist: Photographic Encounters with 1000 Dogs,” which made its way to the bestseller list in 2015. He also published “The Dogist Puppies” in 2017.
“This Dog Will Change Your Life” is Friedman’s first foray into narrative writing. He told amNewYork that he felt ready to flex this writing muscle because of how much he had learned about dogs and people over the years.
“After 10 or 11 years of taking pictures of dogs, I realized that I had become an expert in sort of what dogs mean to people. So I felt like I was ready to write my own first narrative book and put pen to paper — or fingers to keyboards, in this case,” said Friedman. “It was very cathartic and meaningful to me, and I cried a number of times writing the book, and I think you will [cry while reading it], too.”
Friedman has recently launched his own long-form video series, “DOGS with Elias Weiss Friedman,” a man-on-the-street style interview series where celebrity guests help Friedman find the city’s dogs and uncover their stories. The series launched with guests including the late Jane Goodall, with Naomi Watts, Bill Murray, Shailene Woodley, Jesse Williams, Laura Brown, Roy Wood Jr., Joel Kim Booster, Allison Williams, Phil Rosenthal, Ana Gasteyer, Bryce Dallas Howard and Ariana Greenblatt, with more guests to appear as the series unfolds.
“I’ve always wanted to do longer form content, and so my new show, DOGS on YouTube, I get to walk around and meet dogs with special guests, often celebrities, musicians, actors, and it’s great because sometimes it’s hard to relate to people who are famous,” said Friedman. “They’re on stage, they’re on the screen, and dogs are one of the great unifiers. So, watching them interact with dogs, just walking up to people like I do, it’s very relatable, and we get to meet their sort of goofy side and their dog-loving side.”
For Friedman, that his career has taken this trajectory isn’t incredibly surprising because, in his words, “dogs are amazing.” But he did tell amNewYork that the level at which his original Instagram project has grown has been pleasantly surprising.
“I think in more recent years, I’ve been surprised at the level that this project has evolved to. I always knew people liked dogs and dog pictures, but now I have this show on YouTube, I have three books, I do a live show called ‘The Dogist Live,’” said Friedman. “Dogs are evergreen, so as long as I keep having fun myself, meeting people’s dogs and bringing joy to the world, then I know I’m on the right path.”
You can follow Friedman on social media @TheDogist on Instagram or TikTok, and you can watch DOGS on his channel The Dogist Channel. “This Dog Will Change Your Life” is available where books are sold. For more information on Friedman and his work, visit thedogist.com.
