Why This Book Took Four Years to Make

Making the photographs depended on access. We needed store owners to trust us, sign releases, and let us return when a cat hid or the light did not work.

I first noticed bodega cats in 2020, when many parts of the city shut down but bodegas stayed open. I started documenting them formally in 2022. For the first time, I had space to notice the cats I had been walking past for years. I planned to post a few neighborhood photos each week.

Then strangers started sending me photos. A cat in Queens. A cat in the Bronx. A cat from a neighborhood I'd never heard of. At first I ignored them. Then I understood that people wanted their neighborhood cats seen. Their submissions widened the archive beyond the stores I already knew.

Turning the Instagram account into a book required trust from store owners.

Building trust with bodega owners

Bodega owners have good reasons to be suspicious of people with cameras. They're operating in a legal gray area. Cats in food establishments violate NYC Health Code 81.25. Fines run $200 to $300. Some owners pay them without complaint. Others hide the cat when inspectors come. None of them want their business flagged.

So when I showed up asking for permission to photograph and publish, I had to explain who I was, what the account was, why I wanted to feature their cat, and what the book would look like. In English, when possible. Through pointing and gesturing when it wasn't. Language barriers made it hard to explain why I needed signed releases. Owners were suspicious of a stranger who wanted to photograph their cat.

Building trust takes time. I visited the same stores for months before anyone would sign anything. I gave out stickers. I showed them the Instagram account on my phone. I promised to send them a copy of the book when it came out.

When owners knew the work

Some visits changed when an owner already knew the work. Their daughter followed the account, their nephew had sent them a post, or they recognized me from a New York Times article. Owners who understood why we were there often shared more about the cat and the store.

Gulce and I divide the work: I talk while she photographs. If I am holding a camera while asking questions, the conversation never relaxes. With a notepad in my hand and someone else handling the technical work, people open up. They tell me the cat's name, where it came from, how long it has been there, who the regulars are, and what happens when the store closes.

Gulce's photographs and the owners' stories carry different parts of the record.

Four years of access

Four years allowed time to build relationships with owners and return to stores when a cat hid or a visit did not work.

The book features over 60 cats from all five boroughs. Every cat meant store visits, owner conversations, missed shots, and at least one moment where the whole thing could have fallen apart.

Bodega Cats of New York is available for preorder now and publishes November 3, 2026.