NEW YORK — It’s like Humans of New York, but with cats.
For the past few weeks, an Instagram account called Felines of New York has been documenting what it's like to be a cat in the city, posting portraits of the pets, along with a caption with “their” thoughts.
“I like Humans of New York but it’s always very serious — earnest,” Felines of New York’s founder Jim Tews said, “I feel like cats are kind of like that too, serious, judgmental, but in a funny way.”
Over the course of a month, Tews, who works as a Production Assistant for MTV Public Affairs Department, has been busy photographing cats from Bushwick, Astoria, Park Slope and Williamsburg.
“I always thought cats think they are very important and would want to be photographed,” said Tews, a 33-year-old Ridgewood resident.
Tew posts one photo per day on Felines of New York's Instragram, Facebook and Tumblr accounts. In just a few weeks, he's reached thousands of followers and hundreds of likes.
Like Humans of New York, posts on Felines of New York are accompanied with a quote from the subject.
“I’m thinking about opening up a Yoga studio,” reads the caption below the photo of Bastian, a white and brown cat from Park Slope who poses near a yoga mat.
Underneath a photo of Jeddy, a black cat from Bay Ridge, depicting him lounging in a green cardboard box, a caption reads: "My grandparents immigrated here from New Jersey with nothing, and now I have this box."
Tew, a Pennsylvania native who's worked as a stand-up comedian and a comedy writer, is eager to expand the reach of his project and hopes to take photos of felines from a wide range of social backgrounds.
"I'd like to take photos of cats living with very rich families and with more modest ones, photos of stray cats when the weather will be better, just photos of cats from very different neighborhoods and with different lives," he said.
“And when I have hundreds of photos, I’ll eventually like to make a book out of it,” Tews said.
To have your cat featured on Felines of New York, you can send an email to: felinesofnewyork@gmail.com. Photo-shoots happen on the weekend only.
