Clarissa Medicke is not your average golden retriever mom, and Lia is not your average golden retriever. Take a look at just a few of their photos together, and you’ll have your breath taken away.
Clarissa is not a professional photographer, she’s actually a 26-year-old graphic designer from Austria. Her adventure with dogs started at the age of 13 when she brought home her first puppy, an Australian Terrier named Kiwi. As with any other new pup owner, she began documenting their adventure together with photographs.
A few years later, Lia the golden retriever came into Clari’s life. “With her, my love for retrievers – and golden retrievers in particular – started,” says Clarissa.
Not only did Lia further Clarissa’s passion for photography and dogs, but Lia’s family of gorgeous golden retrievers became subjects for Clarissa’s work. Because Clarissa is good friends with a breeder, she always has many well-trained models. “From pups who are just a few days old to the ‘oldies but goodies’ seniors– I just love their wise, grey faces!”
Clari’s work with these spirited and beautiful pups stems from her unique concepts and sometimes extremely challenging ideas. “For a cookie, these dogs will happily do almost everything,” she says.
Clari’s passion for working with her dogs and creating almost impossible portraits through her photography has become a part of who she is. “Dogs and photography are my life. When I’m out at the Farmer’s Market on a Saturday morning and I see some beautiful flowers, I’ll think how nice they would look with my puppy and I’ll buy them just for that. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with a great idea for a shoot, and I always keep my iPhone next to me so I can jot down my ideas.”
Her inspawration partly comes from the stunning work of others, she says. “I love Pinterest and Instagram, both are filled with so many talented people and beautiful pictures.”
She hopes one day to publish a book with her work so that she can showcase her photographs and her passion. But Clari also knows that the most important thing of all is to truly enjoy whay you do.
When she’s not executing brilliant ideas in photo shoots, Clari loves hiking in the beautiful Austrian mountains and cuddling on the couch with Lia.
“No matter how many fans or followers you have,” Clari says, “the most important is to love what you are doing.”
You can find and follow Clarissa’s work at her website, Facebook, and Instagram.