Toddlers and bulldogs are pretty cute on their own, but put them together and you get double cuteness. Then put them together wearing the same outfits and you get what’s known as cuteness overload.
This is what Jesse Holland, a professional photographer based in Victoria, British Columbia, has achieved with a series of side-by-side portraits of her daughter, two-year-old Ella, and their five-year-old French bulldog-Boston terrier mix, Charlie, in matching attire and/or scenarios.
Holland starting posting the outfits-coordinated pictures on her Instagram page about two weeks ago. The first photo shows Ella and Charlie wearing the same purple knit hat with what looks to be a big silly bird’s face on it. Ella loves the hat, Holland said. Charlie? Not so much.
“Ella was really enjoying the hat so I put it on the dog and he was not impressed,” Holland said. “When you put a hat on Charlie, it’s like putting the cone of shame on him. He gets this sad, dejected look. It’s hilarious.”
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It was so hilarious that Holland didn’t stop there. A couple days later she says she was cleaning the house and found an old pair of glasses that had belonged to her grandfather. For kicks, she put them on Ella and took a picture. Then she put them on Charlie and snapped a photo. At that point the project became so fun for Holland, she says she couldn’t stop.
And it’s not just identical outfits she’s interested in; it’s also identical activities. One of her pics shows Ella munching on an ice cream cone. Beside it is a picture of Charlie doing just the same, though as a dog, he has quite a different approach. Another photo shows Ella sitting in a suitcase. Right next to her you have Charlie sitting in the same suitcase in the same exact spot.
Holland isn’t alone in enjoying the photos. Since she began the series, she’s been raking in new Instagram followers.
“When I started sharing the photos a week ago I had around 500 followers on Instagram,” Holland said.
She now has more than 2,000.
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“My bread and butter as a photographer has been mainly weddings and portraits,” Holland said. “But this project may change this.”
Fortunately this project isn’t over. Holland said she’s got something in mind to post in the next couple days. But how ever does she get both Ella and Charlie to hold still for these remarkable pictures? It isn’t easy, Holland said, but she’s got a system down.
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“When working with kids and dogs there's a certain amount of unpredictability, and you sort have to go with the flow,” Holland said. “I usually take a picture of Ella doing something and then put Charlie in the same spot because he’ll sit and stay when he knows there’s a treat involved.”