Name Harry Frees | Role Photographer | |
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Books The Little Folks of Animal Land, The Little Folks of Animal Land - Scholar's Choice Edition | ||
Vintage Adorable Photos of Cats Dressed As People From the 1910s
Harry Whittier Frees (1879–1953) was an American photographer who created novelty postcards and children's books based on his photographs of posed animals. He dressed the animals and posed them in human situations with props, often with captions; these can be seen as progenitors of modern lolcats.
On the choice of cats for his photos Frees states in his book Animal Land on the Air:
Rabbits are the easiest to photograph in costume, but incapable of taking many 'human' parts. Puppies are tractable when rightly understood, but the kitten is the most versatile animal actor, and possesses the greatest variety of appeal.
Frees was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1879, after which his family moved to Oaks, Pennsylvania, where he did his famous works. In the 1940s, he moved to Florida, where he battled cancer, but ended up committing suicide in 1953.
