About

Dancers & Dogs started out as a wildly random idea one day in early 2017.  

We (Kelly & Ian) are commercial photographers, specializing in dance and movement photography. We’ve worked with dancers across the country.  

One day, I (Kelly) had a strange idea:  "What if we did pictures of dancers, with dogs."  Ian looked at me like I was crazy.  But I told him to just "Go with it."  I saw the whole look in my head - the simple, clean backgrounds, the simple clothing styles, the lighting.

We worked with our friends, the dancers of the St. Louis Ballet. The resulting images really seemed to connect with people!  Ballet is often seen as stuffy, moody, or unapproachable, and we feel like this project helps people see the lighter side of dancers - their humanity, and their silliness.

We posted a recap video on social media in 2018…and that’s when things went crazy.  We went VIRAL. The project grew immensely within two weeks.  41 million viewers have seen that original viral video.  Journalist were contacting us from around the world, wanting to feature Dancers & Dogs.  That was when we fully realized that this was something special to so many people.  We get told every day how Dancers & Dogs gives people a smile when they needed one.  And if we’re doing that, that’s all that matters.

We have learned a lot during this process.  We were not animal photographers when we started out!   But along the way we have learned how to work on a dog's level.  We’ve worked with some of the best dancers and dog trainers in the country, and made so many new friendships. Our book is a celebration of all of the people (and dogs) we’ve met and our amazing followers, who have kept us going!

Kelly & Ian

View more of our work here: prattkreidich.com