Men & Cats photo series with David Williams

Posted on March 5, 2015 by janine

Menandcats.com recently stumbled across the work of photographer David Williams, who has an entire series of beautiful portraits of men and their cats. I was shocked that I hadn’t seen his work before, since we have very similar projects with similar goals behind them. I reached out to David for an interview, and he was kind enough to answer my questions. Please check out David’s website and Instagram and support it in any way you can!

First of all, do you have a cat or cats?
DW: My girlfriend and I have one cat named Margot. We rescued her after Hurricane Sandy hit New York.

What’s your photography background?

DW: I received my formal training from The Art Institute of Colorado in Denver. But I’ve had the opportunity to learn a lot by assisting some really amazing photographers.

How did you get interested in photographing other men and their cats?

DW: It simply started as a fun project photographing my friends and their cats in 2009 while I was still attending school. I also found the way that society genderizes animal ownership very compelling. As a portrait photographer I was interested in capturing the relationships of my male friends and their cats. It was also a good excuse to hang out with a bunch of cats!

How do you find the people in your series?

DW: Everyone in the photos are either friends, or friends of friends.

How long have you been doing this? How many portraits have you shot? Are you planning to continue?

DW: Since 2009. I’ve only shot about 20 or so. Sometimes it’s hard to find time for personal work. I absolutely will continue photographing Men & Cats because it involves two of my favorite things, taking pictures and hanging out with cats!

Do you show your work only on your website, or do you have gallery shows? Do you sell prints of your photos?

DW: I have shown some work in galleries but don’t focus a lot of my time towards selling prints or exhibitions.

Has anything surprised you while doing this series of photos?

DW: The recent amount of attention the project has gotten has definitely been surprising as I’ve been working on this project for a while. Shooting personal work is very important for a photographer. It gives me an opportunity to show photo editors and art buyers what I am capable to doing when I have complete creative control.

Ula and Cal

Posted on February 6, 2015 by janine

This user-submitted post simply says, “Cal just looooves Ula. Ula is not so sure.”

Awww.

Daisy and Shelby

Posted on January 3, 2015 by janine

A Men and Cats reader submitted this sweet post about the man and cat in her life:

Daisy is mine and Shelby’s, my fiancé’s, 6 month old brown striped kitten. We rescued her from an abusive home when she was about 6 weeks old. I wanted a little kitten for myself to take care of and keep me company. But Daisy immediately took a liking to Shelby by snuggling in his lap and following him around. I’ll admit I was jealous especially since I was always the cat lover in the relationship. He had never really liked cats too much before and was more of a dog person, but daisy was different. She is truly man’s best friend! He loves her so much and she shows the same love back to him. Everyday when he leaves for work, she waits on the couch right next to our front door for him to kiss her goodbye. Then she cuddles up for a nap and waits for him to come home. When he arrives home, there she is at his feet welcoming him home for the night, then she jumps up on his chair and waits for him to snuggle with her. At bedtime, she cuddles in between us purring and when we wake up, she is in one of our faces purring waiting for us to get up. Daisy is such a special kitty, and she has made our little family complete. Shelby has been happier since we got her, if he is angry or having a bad day Daisy always tries her hardest to cheer him up. I never expected that Shelby would have grown so close to Daisy, but sometimes the most unlikely relationships turn out to be the best ones.

National Cat Day

Posted on October 29, 2014 by janine

Did you know that October 29th is National Cat Day? Let’s all celebrate this day with our favorite feline friends. I’m not sure how I could really spoil my cat any more than he’s already spoiled. I think he thinks every day is “National Cat Day.” =^..^=

Cat-loving man of the week: Alaa

Posted on September 26, 2014 by janine

I love this Buzzfeed post about a man named Alaa. According to Buzzfeed, “Masaken Hanano, a neighborhood in Syria’s largest city Aleppo, has been abandoned by humans because of continuous attacks from forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad.” Yet “a man named Alaa visits everyday to feed the cats who still populate the area.”