Cats Masquerade as Pop Culture Icons

A staggering 3.4 million cats are brought into animal shelters each and every year, and while it’s a challenge to find forever homes for all of them, you would be surprised how much good a well-done photo portrait of a shelter animal can do to help the process along. Gratefully, there’s a growing movement of photographers from all around who donate their skills and time to animal shelters to help.

One such photographer is Shaina Fishman, a New York-based commercial photographer. She specializes in pet portraits. In efforts to make the images stand out, Fishman made the decision to go all out by collaborating with Ryen Blashke, a wardrobe stylist and cat rescue advocate. Together, they have come up with this silly yet adorable and amusing “Cats in Hats” series.

Shaina herself was Inspired by the felt hats she previously created for her own cat, Blaschke. She created each feline-sized head piece by hand. Most of the costumes reference famous individuals from popular culture, including Harry Potter, Disney’s Maleficent, pop musician Sia, Pharrell, Robin Hood, Minions, Pointy Sorcerer and even Donald Trump!