Lights, Camera, Bears: A Chat with Catalin Stelian

Today, we settle in with the incredibly talented Catalin Stelian, a photographer and filmmaker whose passion for the bear community lights up every frame he captures.

Originally hailing from Romania, Catalin’s move to New York City was fueled by love, but his career quickly found its own magnetic pull, drawing him into the vibrant world of bear events, modeling, and media production. An active member of the community, and even a former “Mister Rockbar,” Catalin’s journey is deeply intertwined with the magazine and the influential figures he’s encountered along the way.

Get ready as we dive into his background, his artistic drive, his thoughts on bear fashion, and the exciting projects he has coming up.

Richard Jones: Hi Catalin, it’s so good to take a moment to sit down with you and chat about your work. Tell me a little bit about your background, and how you found yourself in NYC.

Catalin Stelian: Hello Richard It’s a pleasure to talk to you! First of all, thank you so much for having me! As a long long long time reader of the magazine, it’s an honor to be interviewed by you!

I am saying a long long time because I have been following the magazine’s work for about 10 years since I moved to NYC! Originally I am from Eastern Europe (where uncut people live), born in Romania – probably heard of it – that’s the country that got first 10’s across the board at the Olympics!

I moved here because of… love! My husband and I met in Romania and what was supposed to be just a fling, turned into a beautiful relationship and after a long time of flying back and forth Bucharest <=> NYC, I made the decision to move here!

RJ: When did you discover the bear community?

CS: I discovered the bear community pretty quick once I moved here because, let’s be honest, NYC has a lot of bears! But actually, how I started engaging and discovering was through your magazine, reading about the people you were covering were a part of the bear community! So thank you for that!

The other way I started engaging with the bear community was through Doug Langway, the writer and director of BearCity Trilogy! I started working with him I think a year after I moved here and very quickly we became really good friends! So yeah, I started from the source! Then I discovered ROCKBAR and also won a contest Mister Rockbar (I think it was 2017) so that helped a lot because I got to know a lot more people from the community!

RJ: You have been photographing bear events, and bear models as well as tv shows and music videos. What drives this passion?

CS: Filming and photographing bear events or anything bear related is one of my favorite things to do! It feels like photographing friends all the time. Even though I don’t know everyone. I also find it interesting and fascinating that more and more bears are discovering that they are indeed hot and sexy and even though the “industry standard model” does not apply to your body, that doesn’t mean you’re not hot. It’s always a joy to photograph a fellow bear! So if you ever need social media content or headshots, or any kind of photos or videos, hit me up or come by my studio in midtown.

RJ: What do you do to relax?

CS: To relax I do… bears. I am kidding, I am doing all kinds of bears – Lol. Honestly, I hate being relaxed. I constantly have this need to do something and luckily my job is also my passion so even in my free time I take photos and videos. Even though for a year now, I discovered a new passion which is 3D printing and laser engraving. I might say I am a little obsessed with it and what started as just a hobby, now it kind of turned into a small revenue source which I am very very grateful for.

RJ: What are some of the projects you have coming up? Or ones that you want to get off the ground?

CS: Yes, I do. I am blessed to collaborate with this amazing band called TONY and the KIKI (which I highly recommend listening to) and so far we have done 3 music videos together and now we’re launching the fourth one and I am very very excited to finish the edit. I will also have a short film coming out soon, that was written and directed by my talented and beautiful husband Gabriel. I am also really excited about that one too because filming it was a very interesting and dynamic experience.

Also, I am open to collaborations, so if there are people out there who want to collaborate, let me know and feel free to reach out.

RJ: Do you have any bear-focused brands you love that you want to share with us?

CS: Bear focused brands that I like… there are a few. There’s bearskn – I love their underwear and especially the fact that you can find big sizes.

Cause here’s the thing with some of the bear brands (now you got me started) – why you as a bear brand (mostly clothing brands) are only having items up to xl or best case scenario xxl (that’s actually not very xxl) Just wanna put it out there that us fat boys would wear your stuff, but you don’t make big sizes!!!

So if you’re a bear brand and the only thing I can fit in, as a fat guy, is the socks and the hat, you’re not a bear brand. Just saying. Okay, shade over. But there’s a brand a recently discovered and love wearing it. They are called THICKEMS (thickemsclothing on ig) fabrics are great and they actually fit… like they have real men sizes. Lol

CS: Anything else – probably shameless plugs… cause if you can’t brand yourself, how are you gonna brand somebody else?! So you can find me on instagram @catalinmedia or my website – CATALINMEDIA.COM

So if you want photos, videos, social media content in general or any type of branding, or 3D printed stuff (mostly bear/chub oriented) feel free to reach out. I’ll customize it for you. Again, thank you again Richard for this interview. It’s always a pleasure to chat with you.