Peggy Chien (簡佩玲) focuses her camera lens on her model, who elegantly unfurls her long limbs, narrows her pale green eyes — and starts batting a ball of string.
The Taipei photographer’s muses are cats (her own pets as well as street cats) and she snaps her pointy-eared subjects in scenic locations across the country. Chien, whose work is currently on exhibit at the Jazz Photo Gallery (爵士攝影藝廊) on Bade Road, Taipei, hopes to raise pet portraiture to an art form, showcase Taiwan’s scenery and culture, and just revel in the company of her furry friends.
Chien started taking photos of her own cats, Huahua (花花), Mili (米力) and Miguo (米果), five years ago when she designed a Web site for her husband’s veterinary practice. Her recently published book, CAT: Charming Attractive Taiwan, features photos of her whiskered subjects enfolded in the cloth arms of a large budaixi (布袋戲) puppet, sunbathing in Aboriginal canoes on Orchid Island (蘭嶼) and lounging happily in front of curtains of noodles hung out to dry at a mian xian (麵線) factory.
When asked why she thinks cats make good photographic subjects, a bit of the age-old rivalry between feline and canine lovers creeps into the former dog owner’s reply.
“Dogs listen to people, but cats are more complex. Their photos are livelier because of that. Dogs’ eyes are always the same, big and black, but cats’ eyes display a lot more emotion. Also, they are more graceful,”says Chien.
Shooting such a complex subject, however, presents many challenges. When photographing street cats, Chien must arrive on location just after dawn, before the sun comes up and her subjects abscond for their notoriously long catnaps. Many cats are startled by the appearance of a camera, so Chien always packs a telephoto lens to combat the skittishness of her camera-shy subjects, who are more demanding than the most high-maintenance of supermodels.
“You can’t make a cat pose. They just won’t listen to you. Sometimes I’ll chose a location and take a cat there, but we have to be extremely careful that they don’t run away, because they might never come back. I usually have to take two or three people with me just to watch them,” says Chien.
UNFOUNDED FEAR
The fear of having her own cats or her friends’ pets skedaddle is one of the reasons Chien started focusing her camera on Taiwan’s street cats instead. She also hopes to combat discrimination against the animals, which Chien says are sometimes seen as pests.
“Younger people don’t think that way about cats, but older people sometimes do. There are certain Taiwanese superstitions attached to cats and it seemed like every old horror film had a cat prowling around, looking scary. A lot of people take care of street cats, but they are also seen as a nuisance,” says Chien.
Despite her concern over negative perceptions of her bewhiskered friends, Chien has bonded with cat lovers of all backgrounds and ages while on location. Many of them are retirees who while away spare time sitting in parks and feeding local wild cats. In Mutan Village (牡丹村), Taipei County, Chien met the owner of a toy store who proudly demonstrated how he had taught neighborhood cats to leap in the air for treats.
“I don’t want to tell him that all cats will jump for food. That’s not something they need to be trained to do!” says Chien.
Chien wants people to see her photographs, and pet portraits by other photographers, as more than just pictures of cute, fluffy animals (though the cuteness and fluffiness is part of the appeal).
“I think that people can work hard at pet photography and turn it into an art form. It’s something that can be taken seriously,” she says. “When I was planning this exhibit, I was told that people wouldn’t really be interested in it, but I’ve had a really positive response. I think pet owners are moved by the photos and at the same time it gives them a chance to see Taiwanese culture and scenery from a new perspective.”
The fine points of feline photography
Chien has these tips for people who want to take their cat portraits to another level:
Placing a cat by the window takes advantage of their natural affinity for sunlight as well as lights
the photo.
Chien uses an arsenal of toys, canned food (many cats turn up their whiskers at dry food) and cardboard boxes to keep her subjects from wandering off. The latter works especially well, says Chien, because cats like the security of curling up in a small space.
Photographers can rustle or scratch plastic and paper bags to attract cats’ attention. Press the shutter just as their ears and eyes perk up with curiosity.
A long-range or telephoto lens is essential for photographing people-shy street cats.
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