Recency bias is a thing. Here I was, unassumingly thinking that cats became a popular photography subject just recently, and came along with the dawn of the internet. But boy was I wrong. Turns out, they were a photographer-favorite ever since the camera was invented. But, just as much as it is nowadays, the ever-constant never-ending deluge of cat photos doesn’t give us enough time to appreciate them, and they’re in danger of being forever gone from our collective memory. But some people are determined to not let a good cat photo get forgotten, and collect vintage cat photos which are still relevant to this day.
The Brazilian journalist Paula Leite Moreira is one of those rare guardians of peculiarly interesting cat history. She has collected thousands of photos from the previous century, and shares them on her dedicated Instagram account. There you can see how cats shared the company of many famous and interesting personalities of the past, often partook in silly photoshoots, and much more. In other words, it’s been like it always was: cats were at the center of everyone’s attention.
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#1 Kurt Cobain
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#2 British Henry Behrens, Considered The Smallest Man In The World At The Time, Was Seen Dancing To His Pet In Front Of His House
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#3 German Photographer Herbert Tobias With His Cat
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#4 Dalai Lama XIV
“None other than the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, enjoyed the company of his pet cat at his home in Dharamshala, India, circa 1979.”
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#5
“Photo of a French soldier, who took some time to feed a small baby.”
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#6 Hollywood Star, American Actress And Producer Mary Pickford
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#7 Clint Eastwood
“A real treat for our eyes, American actor and filmmaker Clint Eastwood was portrayed at home, with his pussy, by photographer Larry Barbier, around 1960. Los Angeles, California. The United States.”
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#8 Elizabeth Montgomery
“American actress Elizabeth Montgomery playing the character Samantha with the kitten Ling-Ling in the television series Bewitched in 1965.”
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#9 First Pet Of The White House, Socks The Cat
“This wide-eyed ragdoll was known as Socks the Cat and was former US President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary’s first pet.”
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#10 Judy Garland
“Scary tales can be very frightening, but nothing that the company of a kitten doesn’t solve. In the picture, American actress, singer, and dancer Judy Garland, in 1938.”
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#11 Pierre Jamet’s Photo
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#12 George Harrison
“Take a look at these portraits of George Harrison accompanied by his Persian cat named Korky. High dose of cuteness, right? Surrey, United Kingdom, 1965.”
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#13 James Dean
“Take this wonderful sequence of photos of American actor James Dean with his kitten Marcus, a gift given by actress Elizabeth Taylor at the end of the filming of the Giant, in which they acted together, 1955.”
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#14 The German Physician, Philosopher And Theologian Albert Schweitzer
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#15 Audrey Hepburn And Her Husband Mel Ferrer
“British actress Audrey Hepburn was shot with her husband, American actor and director Mel Ferrer, and their kitten, on their farm in Rome, Italy. 1955.”
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#16 Janis Joplin
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#17 Grace Kelly
“All the beauty of the American actress Grace Kelly, who would later become Princess of Monaco, when posing with a pet, around 1948, for the lenses of photographer George Rinhart.”
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#18 Paul Mccartney
“None other than the star Paul McCartney sitting on the doorstep and enjoying the company of his dog Martha and two kittens that are in his lap. London, United Kingdom,1967.”
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#19
“A real leap of the cat immortalized by the lens of its human, Walter Chandoha, in 1951. The pussy, known as Loco, was rescued by the photographer from the freezing streets of New York and became his first feline model.”
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#20
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#21 Canadian Actress And Singer Deanna Durbin
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#22 British Actress Una Stubbs
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#23 Writer Paul Gallico
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#24
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#25 American Pilot John Bevins Moisant
“American pilot John Bevins Moisant had the company of his kitten, Mademoiselle Fifi, in his portraits and even on his flights.”
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#26 Polish Musician Wanda Landowska
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#27 British Model Celia Hammond
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#28 French Photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson
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#29 American Actress And Singer Ava Gardner
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#30
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