Jason Nolen
Cats of Madison is one of the city’s best — and best loved — Instagrams. Jason Nolen, the UW-Madison sociology lecturer who runs the account, has photographed hundreds of local cats and amassed nearly 12,000 followers since 2016.
Once the account started getting popular, fans started asking Nolen if he would start a dog version. An equal opportunity animal lover (with the exception of mosquitos, he hates those), he launched Dogs of Madison later that year. With about 4,700 followers, it’s not quite as big as the feline version (cats have long ruled the interwebs), but it’s every bit as adorable.
Nolen says dog photography is a totally different animal than cat photography. While cats can be skittish and uncooperative (some would call them prudently cautious and independent) and difficult to find unless you know where to look, most dogs are friendly, obedient and eager to please, making them naturals in front of the camera. “It’s much easier to take pictures of dogs than cats,” he says.
But one big difference is that dogs are almost always attached to a human. “That means that getting a pup pic usually involves asking the human for permission and taking up some of their time,” he says. “I’m usually reluctant to ask because I don’t want to bother people or make them stand around while a stranger crawls on the ground, uncomfortably close to their dog.”
Nolen is lucky to live in the Marquette neighborhood, which is the most dog-dense area in the city. But he’s also had good luck finding pups on campus, at local parks and at dog-friendly businesses around town. His Instagram prowess even got him a gig hosting the recent “Pups and Panache” fashion show at Hilldale.
His best tip for spotting dogs? Just go outside in Madison, he says. “They’re everywhere, all the time, and if you quit your job and left your family, you could probably pet and take pictures of a hundred dogs a day.”
