Pet project: A woman and her camera are going to the dogs in Annapolis

Brutus wanted a belly rub.

The big black and tan Rottweiler had barely seen Ashley Norfolk coming before he hit the ground — tongue lolling, belly exposed, paws held close to his chest and curled in anticipatory pleasure.

As Norfolk bent down and began to scratch the dog’s chest, Brutus tried to lick her face. The two are best buds from way back, ever since Norfolk first started photographing Brutus for her popular Instagram blog, “Dogs of Annapolis.”

“You are so precious,” she said.

Annapolis residents, both two-footed and four, have become accustomed to seeing the 35-year-old Norfolk and her Sony 6500 camera after work and on weekends patrolling Main Street and hanging out by City Dock, looking for pups who will pose.

Norfolk works as a computer programmer — initially for the State of Maryland and now for the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association —and during lunch, she likes to get outside and stretch her legs.

“I would take long walks, and I just wanted to pet all the dogs I saw,” she said.

Her “soul dog,” a Pekingese named Tyler, had died one year earlier of lymphoma at age 7, and Norfolk said that spending time with other people’s pets kept her from missing him too much.

“I started to document the dogs I met with my phone, and one day I thought, ‘I should catalog them and put them out on social media.'” she said. “It was my outlet to fill the void of not having a dog at that time. It made me happy, and I thought it would make other people happy, too.”

And thus “Dogs of Annapolis” was created in 2016. Gradually over the past eight years, the blog has picked up more than 8,000 followers on Instagram — a result that Norfolk attributes to her subjects’ effortless charisma and undeniable star quality.

“I feel chosen when a dog interacts with me,” Norfolk said. “When a dog is happy, it makes you happy.”

Norfolk said she modeled her blog on two internet blockbusters: Brandon Stanton’s “Humans of New York,” and Elias Weiss Friedman’s “The Dogist.”

But unlike these two blogs, which pair pictures with stories about their subjects, Norfolk’s posts contain very few words other than the dogs’ names, breeds and ages. Partly, that’s to safeguard the owners’ privacy.

“I’m conscious of people’s time,” Norfolk said.  “I take between five and 10 photos of each dog, and I try to capture each dog’s personality, whether it’s their eyes, or they’re panting or their tails are in motion because they’re happy to see you.”

She estimated that she spends about 15 hours a week on her hobby, and has never had a dog become aggressive or threatening — possibly because she is adept at reading their subtle signals and backs off if the vibe isn’t right.

That goes for their owners as well, though Norfolk said they usually are happy for their pets to have their moment in the spotlight.

“Ninety percent of the time, people get excited and say, ‘Oh, where can I see your photos?'” she said. “But sometimes people say no. I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable.”

The photographer grew up in Owings, Maryland, with her parents, an older sister, and a series of dogs, including a Great Dane who in the 1990s knocked the then-5-year-old Ashley to the ground in an excess of enthusiasm, breaking her leg up to the thigh.

“That didn’t stop me,” she said. “But after that, my parents had Yorkies [Yorkshire Terriers] in the house instead.”

She lives now in Crofton with her husband, Dan, a postal service worker, their 14-year-old rescue Pekingese, Leo (“He’s kind of grumpy,” Norfolk said) and two cats, including an orange tom who according to the photographer, “looks a lot like Ron Swanson.”

Norfolk loves all animals. In addition to her own pets, she feeds and has paid to spay and release two feral kitties who showed up at her doorstep. She is incapable of killing spiders, instead escorting them from inside her home to the great outdoors, and she occasionally lends a helping hand to a good friend who rescues domesticated rats.

During the past eight years, she has developed a community of canine and human “regulars” whom she looks forward to meeting on her walks. There’s Coco, a 13-year-old Havanese; Quincy, a pit bull terrier, chow and husky mix;  Rainey, a gray and white pit bull and perhaps a dozen others.

A favorite stop is the Sea Dog Boutique, where Norfolk visits with owner Karen Komisa and manager Maria Aguirre. Twice a year, Norfolk and her camera stop by the store and photograph the pets “visiting” Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. The event and Norfolk’s photos are free, but the store advertises that it is accepting donations for charity. The most recent event raised $321 in a few hours for the Montgomery County-based Warrior Canine Connection, where recovering veterans train service dogs.

“There are people I’ve met through this whole experience that I wouldn’t have this personal connection with if it wasn’t for me starting this blog,’ Norfolk said.

But of all the friends she’s made, Norfolk has become closest to the man she describes as “my cool uncle.”

James Silwick is a sanitation worker who is responsible for keeping Annapolis’ streets clean. He and Norwalk crossed paths all the time, and one day, they got to talking.

“We had so much in common,” Norfolk said.

“We both like dogs, and classic rock and old monster movies. We can talk forever about anything. He’s always saying, ‘I don’t know why we’re friends. People like us wouldn’t normally talk to one another.”

Silwick described himself as Norfolk’s biggest fan and said he came to appreciate her character during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was at a time when mask-wearing was recommended, but the few facial coverings in existence were reserved for hospital workers.

Norfolk taught herself to sew and began handing out fabric masks on Annapolis streets, asking to be reimbursed just for the cost of her materials.

“That’s just the kind of person Ashley is,” Silwick said. “We’re very close. Seeing her every day makes it worth walking up Main Street.”