About
About the Photographer
She adopted Lorenzo when he was a few weeks old and instantly sensed that he had an unusual character for a cat. He did not purr and rarely meowed, but watched her intently with a face that said, "Tell me what to do." Although eager to please, he was also a self-contained spirit with plenty of spunk-he loved to sink his teeth into a bare ankle as it passed him by.He had another bad habit as well, and that was stealing panties from the dirty laundry basket. One day Biondi got mad at him for this and decided to get even. She put a spandex tank top over his head and onto his body. Lorenzo was unfazed. He adjusted his shoulders, threw out his chest, and looked at her with an expression that said, "You think this bothers me? Well it doesn't. In fact, I like it." He wore that shirt for days.
That was when Biondi suspected she had a natural model on her hands. She took a few photographs of Lorenzo wearing clothes and the images were so funny people laughed out loud. She then realized that for Lorenzo, the camera was catnip. He loved it. And he loved wearing clothes. It was as if he knew that that's what he was put on the planet to do. Wear clothes, pose for the camera, and make people smile.
They have a lot of fun together, Biondi and Lorenzo, and what takes place between them is nothing less than a respectful collaboration. Lorenzo knows what's going on. When the clothes come out and the lens cap is removed, he's ready to go to work. He is an active, earnest participant in the shoot. And when he's in the mood, he can totally work it, serve it, slam it, and bring it on home.
Yes, Biondi attributes "human characteristics" to Lorenzo, and to claims that she is guilty of anthropomorphism she says, feh! Like Charles Darwin, she sees the difference between humans and animals as a matter of degree rather than kind, and believes that animals do indeed feel and express emotions. She thinks there is an innate intelligence inside Lorenzo's fuzzy little head, and she tries to capture that intelligence in her photographs. And she does so naturally; no Photoshop magic wand involved.Her photography challenges preconceived notions of what a cat will or will not do. They lie outside the grid of convention, and deliver a new perspective on the cliché of cats being stubborn and aloof. It is the juxtaposition of human clothing on a cat's body that renders them startling, and at the same time, enchanting, intriguing, and compelling.
Simple yet strange, the photos are a testament to the inherent beauty in the feline form. They spark the imagination, force us to smile, and speak to the bond among all sentient beings. And they are thump on the head to anyone who believes that animals don't have souls.
About Lorenzo the Cat
A Maine coon with the patience of a Buddhist monk and the soul of a philosopher, Lorenzo the Cat was born on Halloween and tossed in a garbage can at birth—a traumatic ordeal that he has fully recovered from without the aid of psychotherapy.
He has a big hairy chest, luminous green eyes, and a thick bushy tail that occasionally curls up and hits him on the head. Sensitive yet masculine in that Italian soccer player sort of way, he's calm, confident, and superbly sweet-tempered. He never cries over spilt milk; he just laps it up. He is one cool cat.
He loves going for walks on a leash and thinks that people who laugh at him for doing so are jerks. His hobbies include tormenting lizards, napping on good books, studying the physics of toilette water swirl, and contemplating the meaning of life.
Lorenzo has a fetish for fashion, but he is not gay—not that there's anything wrong with that. Although not quite a metro-sexual, he appreciates the perks that come with always looking your best. He loves fine clothes, preferably stylishly casual shirts left unbuttoned at the neck. Lorenzo does not wear pants or hats, and he refuses to model in the nude. Without a doubt, he is the best dressed cat in America.
An international feline sensation, he has over 300,000 facebook fans who cheer him on, ask his advice, and laugh at his wise guy antics
