Cat photos are as old as photography itself – you must see these amazing vintage feline shots, including the oldest ever recorded

Photography emerged in 1839, and early adopters quickly found ways to capture their beloved cats. The first known surviving feline photograph is believed to date back to around 1845, just six years after the invention of the medium. This image depicts a tabby cat with white feet drinking from a bowl, its head slightly blurred due to movement.

Unfortunately, the photographer and the cat's name remain unknown. The photograph is housed in the Houghton Library at Harvard University and is accompanied by a handwritten note stating 'head moved', a testament to the photographer's disappointment with the blurred image.

Another notable early cat photo, estimated to be from between 1840 and 1860, shows a person seated with a cat on their lap. This image is currently part of the US Library of Congress' Daguerreotype Collection. A more recent Victorian-era photograph features a girl resembling Wednesday Addams, holding her cat still to keep it motionless during exposure.

The first known professional cat photographer was Harry Pointer from Brighton, who began his career in 1858 after a military service. After 20 years in the military, Pointer opened a photo studio at his family home in Brighton, taking advantage of the new craze for small, inexpensive carte-de-visite portraits. While he initially photographed typical cat poses like sleeping and drinking, by 1870 he started to pose the cats in various situations for more interesting pictures.

These cat photos became immensely popular and led to ambitious tableaus of cats seemingly engaging in human activities. By 1872, Pointer had created over 100 cat studies, often featuring hand-written captions that added to their appeal.