One Cool Cat Lady: Kristiina Wilson, Fashion Photographer

Photo shoot for Tokion Magazine / Model: Tess Frazer

Kristiina Wilson likes cats! The NYC based fashion and beauty photographer has seven kitties in her house, along with twelve fosters in her studio that she plans to raise and adopt out in pairs.

(Click images to enlarge)

Wilson's permanent brood includes Emmi (a Bengal mix, 9), Pumpkin (an orange and white girl, 8), Marvin (a Bombay girl, 7), Mr Grumpy (a Maine Coon, 6), Steve B (a Tuxedo boy that can open doors, turn on lights and get in the fridge, 2), Mimi (a Tabby girl who is great at being a foster mom to kittens, 1), and Party (a Tabby boy that Mimi helped raised after his mom and two brothers died from illness, 3 months).

The cat loving lady doesn't just live with cats, she also includes them in her work whenever possible. Last year, she did two shoots with her own cats (and some rescue/fosters she had as kittens at the time) for Tokion magazine and VS fashion magazine. She also recently did a shoot at Caboodle Ranch cat sanctuary, which will be released later this month.

I asked Kriistina how she got her start in photography, and she explained that it began in high school.

She says, "I didn't get into fashion until a few years ago, because I was busy being an ARTIST. But fashion is a great marriage of art and commerce, and I get to work with my friends and pretty much shoot whatever I want. I love it! I studied photography in college at NYU and in Finland, where I got my Master's Degree, but those programs were all very fine art based."

I know from experience that cats are not always the most cooperative subjects, but Kristiina still manages to get the most amazing shots. I wanted to know if she faced any unique challenges when photographing animals, but surprisingly, she didn't seem to think so.

Photo shoot for VS Magazine / Model: Steve B

She revealed, "Kittens are more difficult because they want to run around like crazy, but since I work with cats so much, I pretty much know the drill at controlling them.

And my own cats all know what being photographed means, and Steve and Mr Grumpy actually really like posing and are very good models. They give lots of little changes and understand that we are finished when the camera goes down. So a shoot with cats is generally faster than one with human models, for me."

Mr Grumpy

So what else does Wilson like most about photographing cats over any other subject? It should come as no surprise that her answer was, "Everything!"

Special thanks to Kristiina for sharing her images, and for taking the time to answer my questions! I'm in love with her work, and can't wait to see what other kitty-themed shoots she cooks up in the future! For more info, you can check out her website here.

(Thanks for the tip, Megan!)