Sweet portraits of men with their felines challenge 'cat lady' stereotypes

Crazy cat lady stereotypes aside, do women really have a special relationship with their felines? Is the bond between a woman and her cat stronger than that of a man and his cat?

Photographer David Williams doesn't think so. He began his photo portrait project of men and their cats because he found the way society genderizes animal ownership to be very compelling. "As a portrait photographer I was interested in capturing the relationships of my male friends and their cats," Williams explained to TODAY. "I also love cats and it was a good excuse to hang out with a bunch of cats!" Williams said that he has gotten countless emails from people saying that they can relate to his photos because they know males who genuinely love their cats.

Check out his awesome photos of manly men with their felines, and you be the judge of which gender you think has a greater bond.

Grant and Tux

Brian and R2-D2

Brent and Sammy

Eric, Pup and Bean

Michael and Sadie

Kent, Jessie and Micky

Matt and Pam

Matt and Trixie

Ross and Jabsco

Corey and Tess

Bird and Gertrude

Chad and Newton

This story was originally published on March 6 at 5:19 p.m.