Tails From the Booth

By: Lynn Terry
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date: October 2015
ISBN: 978-1501100697
Reviewed by: Ellen Feld
Review Date: October 25, 2015

A happy dog...a sad dog...a goofy dog. These are all images from Tails From the Booth, an absolutely delightful book about Man’s Best Friend.

In 2006, photographer Lynn Terry, inspired by her love of dogs, agreed to help a local dog rescue by photographing a couple of their dogs in need of ‘forever homes.’ She came up with the novel idea of taking photos of those dogs in a recreation of an old-fashioned photo booth. And the rest, as they say, was history. The photos flew across the internet, racking up huge numbers of hits, likes and shares. Inspired to help even more rescue dogs find permanent homes, Lynn tweaked her photo booth and set to work sharing more photos. Soon afterwards, a book was suggested and Tails From the Booth was born.

Over 100 pages of photos (with a few pages of text here and there) of adorable dogs posing in a photo booth are captured in this book. Most pages have four shots per page, with one to three dogs in each shot and a nice mixture of color and sepia tone images. There are several pages of text by the author/photographer explaining how the idea was born, what she does to capture the dogs’ attention, and at the back of the book head shots, along with names, of all the dogs who participated in the making of this book.

What made the original photos so popular, and that is replicated within the pages of this book, are the personalities of the dogs that come screaming through loud and clear. While the single dog photos are nice, my favorites are those with two or three dogs. Why? Because you can really see the personalities and relationships the dogs have with each other. From loving (tongues out, licking each other) to total annoyance (eyes rolling, like a child who is upset at his/her sibling), it’s as if you know what they are thinking. I dare anyone to look through the pages of this book and tell me that dogs don’t have distinct personalities. I also dare you to go through the book and try to keep a straight face. Tails From the Booth will cheer up the grouchiest person.

Quill says: Having a bad day? Need a good laugh? If so, (and even if you’re having a great day!) then I suggest you check out Tails From the Booth. I guarantee you’ll be smiling from ear to ear after scrolling through its pages.