Meet Your Dog’s Photographer
Tamara Telkes
Hi there, I’m Tamara! I’ve been taking pictures of dogs since I was 12 years old, and have photographed hundreds of the most adorable, loving dogs out there. Here’s how I became a dog photographer, and everything you might want to know about me before booking your session.
I grew up in a small town in Hungary with two border collie, who I got when I was a teenager. Lindsey, my first dog, ignited the passion in me for visual arts. I began making videos of her when she was a puppy to capture her growth and learning journey. The videos themselves are of course terrible, but they are still some of my fondest memories. Shortly after came photography, and my second dog, Dash. The two of them were, and to some degree still are my test subjects and go-to models whenever I create something new, and we have learned together through thousands of initially horrendous pictures.
The first time I ever photographed someone else’s dog was in 2017, for a local fellow border collie owner, and even though those images are far from perfect, I still cherish them, because from then on, I was hooked. I dedicated myself not only to learning everything there was to know about cameras and lenses, but also about dogs’ body language and behavior, how to work with strange pups, how to make them comfortable with working with me.
When I turned 18, I moved out of my hometown, into the capital city, Budapest, where I still live. I took a gap year to work, to gain some experience working in creative fields, so in those months I did social media management, which allowed me to continue filming videos and taking photos. Around this time, my business started to take off and as I was photographing more and more people and their dogs, I realized that what I really wanted to capture was the bond between pets and their owners. I’d decided that my sessions would be all about telling this story – not focusing on a singular image, rather making a cohesive series that showcase many sides of a pup’s personality, from as many angles as possible.
My work since then has gotten a bit of recognition, for which I feel very honored. In 2021 my picture of my Lindsey and Dash made the Top 100 shortlist in the Internation Pet Photographer of the Year competition, then the following year my portrait of a beautiful Hungarian Vizsla, Liza was in the Top 25.
One of the most incredible things that has ever happened to me was after winning one of the photo competitions, Canon Hungary messaging me, asking to purchase the licensing to one of my images, because they wanted to use it for one of their campaigns. The photo was features on their website, and in the stores of all of their partners in 4 countries. I’m not going to lie, seeing one of my pictures displayed in large format at a Media Markt felt surreal!
As of 2025, when I’ writing this post, I’m shooting for more and more people every year, in a growing number of places. To be honest, it isn’t exactly easy to balance it with my university studies (in Sociology, which I consider to be my hobby, rather than my calling in life), but it certainly is rewarding and worth all the sacrifice. Somehow even after the most tiring day of studying, if I have a session in the afternoon, I catch myself smiling, my spirits lifted, because I get to meet another person who loves their dog the same way I do and I get to meet another dog whose story I can tell.
