On January 1st Kristen Kidd Photography launched the Women’s Best Friend Coffee Table Book Project benefiting Harley’s Haven Dog Rescue.
This project was born out of the moving stories women were telling me before their photo sessions. Every session is preceded by a pre-consult – a time to discover why their photo experience is deeply and uniquely important to each person. Time and again women approached me to be photographed with their dogs. They shared how their canine companion was there for them unconditionally and without judgement. Their dog BFFs changed the course of their days whether it be with a doggy kiss to start the day or a happy greeting at the door after a long hard day’s work. They intuitively stuck by them in their grief or made them laugh when laughter seemed like an impossibility. Through depression, anxiety, divorce, death, rape, loneliness and a million other trials and tribulations woman after woman shared how their dog saved them.
It occurred to me that we always talk about “Man’s best friend” and “A boy and his dog”, but what about “Woman’s Best Friend”? Thus, the first seeds of the book project were germinating.
I knew I wanted to elevate the status of our relationships with our pets in a profound way – to give a platform to the celebration of how much they mean to us. We still live in a world in which there’s stigma attached to loving your pets as much as you may love a human. Where there’s a stigma, I want to eradicate it with empathy and compassion. We cultivate empathy and compassion when we give a voice and space to those effected by the stigma. So, the plan was simple. Share these stories.
Every endeavor at Kristen Kidd Photography is designed to benefit and engage the greater community.
The women who submit their stories and participate in the project receive the full, unique experience that every family and individual receives with a session at Kristen Kidd Photography. Their experience is complete with an opportunity to design their own personal wall art. Partners in the project know that their participation is not only giving them the experience of a lifetime, but creating something bigger than them, that includes them, celebrates them and in turn testifies to the importance of all of our bonds with each of our pets.
The profits from the sales of each book go directly to Harley’s Haven Rescue. These stories are saving lives because without these stories there is no book. Without this book, there are no profits to donate to Harley’s Haven.
Finally, each person who invests in purchasing this beautiful book is choosing to celebrate this testament to our bonds with our four-legged family members. In doing so they take another step closer to erasing the stigma all while supporting the tireless work of Harley’s Haven Dog Rescue.
