If you loved scouring colorful pages, trying to find Waldo as a child or with your child, you might enjoy trying to find Momo.
Momo is a four-year-old border collie that blends in very well with his surroundings. You won’t have to search through hundreds of dogs to find him. The black-and-white pup is easily lost in stark scenery. Graphic designer Andrew Knapp, Momo’s owner, noticed this when they would play fetch.
“I’m about to throw a stick and he runs into the woods waiting for me to throw it, and he becomes really still, just like another object in the forest,” Knapp said. “And I look for him, and sometimes I can’t find him.”
Knapp started taking pictures of Momo from a distance, hidden in the stark scenery. He uploaded them to Instagram for his fans to enjoy.
“Instagram was a really nice way to do this because it’s instantaneous. Then I started finding spots in urban landscapes that would be good for it too,” Knapp said. “So whenever I’m walking him, I’m always on and looking for a spot. But then I realized that not looking is the best way to find them.”
Knapp’s photos became a bigger hit than he intended.
“The plan was to make a little book for my niece and nephew for Christmas, he said. “I was tired of buying them big things they didn’t need, so instead, I made them something they didn’t need. They loved it. I made some extras for some friends, and they loved it.”
Knapp started tweeting the Momo pictures with the hashtag #findmomo, and created the website http://gofindmomo.com/ .
“It started as a little thing for my nieces and nephew and turned into this hashtag project that’s bigger than I anticipated. I want to make more books for sure. It makes people smile,” Knapp said. “I’m very pleasantly surprised. It’s fantastic. He’s an adorable dog, and I want people to remember him.”
When asked if all the attention had gone to Momo’s head, Knapp jokingly replied, “He hasn’t snubbed me yet. He still sleeps on the foot of the bed. He hasn’t found a better room or bigger bed yet.”