# Cats - Photography is Nothing with Zach Dobson & Courtney McCracken

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/photography-is-nothing-7391177/cats-photography-is-nothing-with-zach-dobson-courtney-mccracken
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/photography-is-nothing-7391177/cats-photography-is-nothing-with-zach-dobson-courtney-mccracken.md
Podcast: [Photography is Nothing](https://stenobird.com/podcast/photography-is-nothing-7391177)
Published: 2026-01-14T05:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/photography-is-nothing/episodes/Cats---Photography-is-Nothing-with-Zach-Dobson--Courtney-McCracken-e3dkcnd
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/fd036364/podcast/play/113963181/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-0-14%2F416076604-44100-2-4ef8c10c9520f.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/photography-is-nothing-7391177/episodes/cats-photography-is-nothing-with-zach-dobson-courtney-mccracken
Duration seconds: 2498

## Resource

Episode 20 - Cats have been a part of photography since its beginnings. As early as the 1870s, people have been taking silly photos of cats in costumes or staged scenes. In this episode, we look at the beginnings of cat photography, technology that was developed from a scientist studying cats, and some very commercially successful cat photographers. We even bought a photo book expressly for this episode! “Photography is nothing–it's life that interests me.” - Henri Cartier-Bresson Index 0:00 - Intro - Hemingway’s cats lounge around the house 2:50 - Our cat wants to be on the podcast 3:20 - Meet our cats 7:29 - John P. Soule - Stereoscopic cat photography in the 1870s 8:56 - Some internet cats we love 10:12 - Harry Whittier Frees posed cats in costumes in 1914 14:38 - Étienne-Jules Marey & the chronophotographic gun in the late 1800s 18:10 - Walter Chandoha was the preeminent cat photographer of the 20th century 22:17 - Julian Assange used his cat Michi for good PR 23:38 - Cats in the Sun, a photo book by Hans Silvester (1993) 28:05 - Single cat images by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Sabine Weiss, Danny Lyon, and others 30:48 - Photographing Hemingway’s polydactyl cats 31:58 - Baby the seeing eye cat by LIFE photographer Loren F. Smith 35:37 - Cats do what they want and we accept that 40:15 - Things NOT to do when photographing cats Find Zach Website: https://zachdobson.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zachdobsonphoto/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@zachdobsonphoto Threads: https://www.threads.com/@zachdobsonphoto Find Courtney Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/courtneymccracken_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@happy_life_lessons Threads: https://www.threads.com/@courtneymccracken_ About the Podcast Photography is Nothing with Zach Dobson and Courtney McCrac…

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