‘Strangers sent me 140 selfies in Nottingham of my friend’s dog’

A man has said it was “absolutely brilliant” to receive more than 100 selfies from strangers after he put up posters of his roommate’s dog.

Michiel Holemans, who lives in Nottingham, put up about 20 A4 flyers across the city inviting people to take a photo with a printed picture of “Aggie” and send them to him.

He said it was a “silly and fun idea”, inspired by a similar project in New York, that made him feel connected with people he may never meet.

“I think that sense of community, especially in a city that can be quite big and scary, is something I’m really striving for,” he added.

Mr Holemans said in the first week of the posters being up he received nearly 140 e-mails with photos, way beyond his expectations.

“It was absolutely brilliant because instead of checking my phone and going on social media, I was checking my e-mail every five seconds,” he said.

“Then I’d see a picture of someone and honestly it just made me giggle.”

He added that the posters were attached with a flour and water mixture, rather than glue, to avoid any damage or contamination.

The star-of-the-poster, Aggie, is a rescue dog of a breed unknown to the owners, who got her when on holiday in Greece.

Owner Elena Meadows admitted she did not know what her roommate would do with the photo when he asked for one.

“He never really elaborated, he just said does anyone have a stupid picture of their dog, and I was the first to reply,” she said.

“It’s incredible, and little did we know when we first got her that she’d become famous in a place where she’s not even from.

“She [Aggie] has no idea that this is happening. She’s blissfully unaware at home.”

As for Mr Holemans, he said the success of the posters had inspired him to explore further projects aimed at putting a smile on stranger’s faces.

“One of the people sent me an e-mail with a little bit of text explaining that their day was really [bad] and they had a lot of anxiety, but then they saw my poster, took a selfie, and they felt better,” he said.

“That just made it all worth it for me.”