Seven decades of Walter Chandoha's feline pals

The Internet has always been a great place to find delightful and amazing pictures of cats. Pros and amateurs alike snap and post gazillion images of these furry creatures. But long before kitties ruled both Facebook and Instagran there was Walter Chandoha.

The prolific photographer, who passed away this year at the age of 98, had amassed an archive of about 230,000 photos, his daughter Fernanda estimates, of which 90,000 were of his feline friends. Now these images are gathered together in the new book Cats. Photographs 1942–2018.

As the 296-page hardback explains, Walter's career started in 1949 when he noticed a stray kitten in the snow. He took it home and turned his lens on his new pet. He really liked the results, began photographing cats from a local shelter, thereby kickstarting a remarkable career that would span 70 years.

The images here are excerpted from Walter's book, now available from Taschen. Thanks to Astrid for the tip.

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