Kristen Kidd’s Woman’s Best Friend Project Gives Women a Platform to Share How their Furry Friend has Impacted Their Life

Dogs are known as Man’s Best Friends, but I believe they are Woman’s Best Friend and Pennsylvania based photographer, Kristen Kidd agrees! Want to know how you can share your story about how your pet has impacted your life while also giving back to support pets in need? Kristen’s Woman’s Best Friend Project aims to do just that while giving back to shelters in her local community. Keep reading to learn more about this project and about how dogs have impacted me!

There is nothing like the bond with a pet. For as long as I can remember, I have been obsessed with dogs. Whenever I see dogs out in public or at someone’s house, I am drawn to the dog. As a child, I loved seeing dogs around town. Dogs have always been a way to brighten my day, make me smile, and feel happy! When I was in the second grade, we got a Dalmatian/ Lab mix named Spike. He was my ultimate best friend. We even dressed up as each other for Halloween! I guess you can say I was destined to be a crazy dog lady! As a shy child, Spike was where I got to be myself and have fun!

When I was in High School, we got my little good boy, Karl, from a local pet adoption through an organization called ARF. Karl and I bonded instantly. I loved dressing him up in polo shirts, picking out treats and toys for him and letting him sleep in my bed at night. Karl always brightened my day after school. When I moved away for college, I would call him and talk to him on the phone and always looked forward to breaks so I could rush home and visit him! Dogs have always been a huge source of happiness for me.

According to Forbes, nearly half of the global population owns pets. Owning a pet has many benefits to both our mental and physical health. In 2020, at a time where many people were reporting feeling lonely, isolated, and stressed, pet adoptions (and fosters) soared to an all time high! Adopting pets not only saves a pet’s life and opens up more room in the shelters, it also saved human lives. Having a pet at home can make up for the lack of human contact. Being able to spend more time at home with Teddy made everything seem like it was going to be okay. Getting to see his smile while I was working from home, eat lunch with him, or sit outside and get some fresh air and sun while we worked was so beneficial for me. Normally, I can’t imagine life without him but I really can’t imagine life without him during this pandemic.

2020 will forever be known as the year that life came to a halt for most of the world’s population. We were forced to spend more time alone and home. Many either lost their jobs or found themselves having little work and life balance because their homes were also now their offices. Essential workers were being called upon to work more demanding hours than ever. However, for pets, 2020 can be known as the year of the pet! Our pets were in heaven as their families were at home 24/7! I know Teddy was super happy about this!

Meet Kristen Kidd, photographer & the storyteller behind Woman’s Best Friend Project

Pennsylvania based pet and family photographer, Kristen Kidd is here to help share the stories of Women and their pets who mean so much through her Woman’s Best Friend Project. This project shares the stories of humans and their furry friends while showcasing the powerful connections between women and their dogs. This project was created as a way to document each woman’s story based on the question: When has your dog been there for you in a way a human could not? Our bond with our dogs are special and they are often there for us in ways many cannot understand. The Woman’s Best Friend Project shines a light on this!

We had an opportunity to ask Kristen some questions about this project here. Get to know more about Kristen and Woman’s Best Friend Project below.

Tell us about yourself and how you got started with photography?

As I grew older, I started to dabble with disposable cameras, point and shoots and finally I picked up my father’s old Olympus. This was my first real camera. First, I photographed the flowers on the acres of land at our rural, southern Virginia home. Soon after, I began photographing people. Namely, those that called the long term care facility home. Since then, I’ve had a camera in my hands in one respect or another.

My appreciation for photography began early in my childhood as I followed my mother from room to room through the halls of the long term care facility where she worked as a nurse. I marveled to see what photos – what precious snippets from each person’s life made it into the tiny room that would be their final home. I saw black and whites of young brides, children, grandchildren, great grandchildren. Candids and formal portraits dotted bedside stands. Beloved pets, prized cars, adventurous trips and military acts of service fought for space on a poster board. This was the testimony to the best of each person’s life which I found mesmerizing.

What inspired you to start this project?

My love of animals drew me to pet photography. Most of the pet photography I saw showed pretty portraits of pets, but there wasn’t much really showing the depths of the emotion we feel in our connections with animals. Once I began to photograph these aspects of our bonds I started to see a pattern emerge of women sharing how their dogs were there for them during seminal moments in their lives. I knew there was value in sharing both the stories of these courageous women and the dogs that stayed by their side every step of the way.

Tell us about a dog who changed your life!

Cedric was my basset hound and best buddy as a young child. Some of my fondest memories of my childhood were of the two of us galavanting around the backyard. He was where my love of dogs began.
I love that this The Woman’s Best Friend Project (WBF) gives back to the community by sharing the stories of women and their pets.

Why did you select Brandywine valley as the recipient?

Brandywine Valley SPCA (BVSPCA) does tremendous work for dogs not only locally, but around the world. Over the couple of years leading up to Volume Two of WBF, I developed a relationship with BVSPCA and felt that it made sense to collaborate with them on this project. In Volume Three, working with the Women’s Animal Center was a no brainer. The rich history of being the first shelter in America and founded by women, no less, was paired with their conviction and commitment to serve their community – both four-legged and two-legged. I knew they were the perfect fit for the project.

Has there been a story from one of the previous projects that particularly touched or inspired you?

I think one of the most beautiful things about the project is that the stories are so diverse. It makes it so difficult to pick just one. Each story makes my heart overflow for a different reason. I’ll take the opportunity to feature Jenny and Willow, though. It’s that kind of story in which as one looks back, one considers how profoundly orchestrated life can feel sometimes – in the best way. Jenny rescued Willow from a terrible situation. Yet, on the day she scooped that precious pup up, if someone had turned to her and said, “Soon you will be fighting for your life and this dog is going to help you get through it.” She couldn’t have believed it. There’s just no way to foresee or measure the impact of what our canine companions will mean to us. Their love is always inconceivably vast.

Why do you think the bond between women and their pets is so important?

Honestly, it’s all about voice – providing a voice to those who don’t feel they have one. From breeds that are discriminated against to stigmas attached to grief, vulnerability and more, this project is a way to give voice and also simply celebrate the joy and delight of every day with our dogs.

Every human’s bond with every pet is so very important. It’s simply that telling the stories of women’s bonds with their canine best friends provided a platform to build on. That platform allowed others to explore why it is that we need the connections of the beloved creatures in our lives and what they uniquely offer to us that other humans can’t always offer.

Our pets help us see ourselves through their eyes. That lens is our best selves. They show us our worthiness and the worth of a life well lived and well loved. That’s a story that always deserves to be told.

Woman’s Best Friend Project gives women a platform to share the story of their bond with their pet while giving back to animals in need.

100% of the profits from each book sale is donated to a local rescue partner. The third edition, which is now open for submissions to help women nationally tell their stories, is partnered with America’s first animal shelter and adoptions program, Woman’s Animal Shelter in Bensalem, PA- advocating for homeless animals since 1869.

In 2019, the first volume was released, which raised close to $10,000 for Harley’s Haven Dog Rescue. For the second and most current volume, Brandywine Valley is benefitting from Kristen Kidd’s coffee table book. In total so far, the project has raised over $17,000 for local rescues and shared over 90 stories from women struggling with grief, mental and physical health, breed discrimination and much more. Woman’s Best Friend Project consists of stories of humans and their furry friends.