- Images show fabulous variety of dogs in mid-shake
- Zoologist photographer grew up beside nature reserve
- Snapper has 19,000 Facebook fans and book deal
FORGET wildly popular dance the Harlem Shake, here's the Portland Shake, as brilliantly captured by a talented American zoologist turned pet photographer.
As a child growing up next to a nature reserve in suburban New York City, Carli Davidson cared for cockroaches and rats, dreaming of being a lion tamer.
When she grew up, she worked with elephants and tigers at Oregon Zoo.
Today, she is winning rave reviews and carving out a career as an accomplished animal photographer in Portland, USA.
Ms Davidson's stunning snaps of dogs in never-seen-before poses have won her 19,000 fans on Facebook - and now her first book deal.
The images show a bewildering variety of dogs in mid-shake, casting a fascinating new light on a common tick of man’s best friend.
"At first I wasn't trying to capture anything," recalls Ms Davidson, 32, whose project Shake was inspired by her own dog Norbert.
With lots of natural loose skin around his face, Ms Davidson’s first model Mane, a Dogue de Bordeaux, was an ideal test subject.
"After seeing the first few images, I realised I was capturing was something playful, light-hearted and somewhat bizarre."
Inspired, the photographer started shooting as many dogs as she could.
Ms Davidson's subjects are mostly friends' pets, bolstered by orphans from the local animal rescue shelter.
Picked up by publisher Harper Collins, the photographer has shot more than 60 different dogs for her first book, on sale in October.
"I shot over 100 dogs, but some chose not to shake, so I scheduled a lot more then I needed."
"I show two images of each dog, like two frames in a movie, to amplify the sense of change in appearance and motion."
How does she get the dogs to shake?
"I use a variety of techniques, but I usually tell people its magic," says Ms Davidson. "I'm not giving all of my secrets away just yet."
Not resting on her laurels, the photographer is working on Invincible, a project sharing stories of disabled pets and their owners, and at time same time shooting Fetch, which shows dogs in mid-air as they leap to retrieve favourite toys.
"Fetch shows us both the predator and the playful puppy in our dogs. I'm amazed at how high dogs will jump for Frisbees!" she says.
It's the perfect culmination of a journey that began with the young Ms Davidson hanging around photo shoots with her art director father.
"The fact that I can make a living at my photography was secondary to making the art, but it's much appreciated," she says.
"I aim to tell honest stories that encourage curiosity, and hopefully help people recognize the sameness of all creatures."
SHAKE by Cari Davidson will be published by Harper Collins in October. Pre-order here
Simon Crerar is News Limited's Visual Story Editor. Follow him at twitter.com/simoncrerar
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