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Cat on sidewalk. Photo by Angelo Rizzuto (Anthony Angel), May 1959. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.71298

Cats are Looking at You

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In my most recent Flickr album, Animals are Looking at You, twenty two animals are peering out at you from black-and-white photographs. The photos were initially selected by Office of War Information staff in 1945 for a display in the Photographic Section file room. The Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection (FSA/OWI) was transferred to the Library of Congress’ custody in 1944, but it wasn’t until 1946 that it made the physical move to the Library. In the interim, the collection was housed in the Auditor’s Building in Washington, D.C. During that time period, themed exhibits were displayed, including one that featured mostly farm animals making eye contact with the photographer.

The topic made me curious enough to look for other photos in our collections of animals looking into the camera. Let’s be honest, though, I mostly looked for cats! While I noticed many cats avoiding the camera, there were quite a few examples of felines staring down the camera lens. (I would say many aren’t too pleased about it, either!)

Cat sitting on top of boxes. Photo by Angelo Rizzuto (Anthony Angel), April 1955. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.69922
Field, Marshall, Mrs. (Miss Evelyn Marshall), with cat, portrait photograph. Photo by Arnold Genthe, 1914 Dec. 15. https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/agc.7a14115
Cat walking across brick wall, four frames. Photo by Angelo Rizzuto (Anthony Angel), June 1962. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.70717
Schermerhorn cat, portrait photograph. Photo by Arnold Genthe, 1928 Dec. 3. https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/agc.7a01676

Cat with Candelabra, Normandy, France. Photo by Balthazar Korab, 1951. https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.67874

Cat on sidewalk. Photo by Angelo Rizzuto (Anthony Angel), May 1959. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.71298
Paris-London, Moissant’s cat. Photo by Bain News Service, n.d. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.08636
Popcorn the cat, one of a dozen or so feline residents at Gammons Gulch, a recreated Old West town and the site of dozens of movies, commercial shoots and the like in the remote desert north of Benson in Cochise County, Arizona. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2018 March 16. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/highsm.49511
Munson, Audrey, Miss, with Buzzer the cat, portrait photograph. Photo by Arnold Genthe, 1915 Mar. 23. https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/agc.7a16610
Woman holding cat. Photo by National Photo Company, 1926 or 1927. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/npcc.16698

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Comments (4)

  1. Thank you for this great blog post. As a cat lover myself, I am wondering if the final photo doesn’t reveal more than the caption does. All of the tiny trophies on the table in front of the woman, who clearly loves her kitty, lead me to think that the cat is a winner! Not just in her eyes but in a competitive sense. if you are able to read the notes on the trophies you would know!

  2. My favorite (FAVORITE) line from this post is “The photos were initially selected by Office of War Information staff in 1945 for a display in the Photographic Section file room.”

    Going to war? The answer is cats. Thank you for this lovely post!

  3. What great feline finds! It’s like they are peering out of the past (and not even necessarily demanding dinner!). And it’s wonderful, if not surprising, to be inspired by FSA/OWI photos and activities.

  4. OMG 😱 I LOVE whole story 😻 I am a huge cat LOVER! I like them better than people @least kitties appreciate you! All my life I’ve had many furball kiddos and everyone of them were sent to me from GOD as they were all homeless and broken to only become my precious Angels w/whiskers! Thank you so much for putting this out here I noticed all the dates on the pics that they’ve always throughout history have been interesting and thought of enough to capture them in photographs! Please keep sharing these memories/images of these amazing creatures 💞 Thank you!

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