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.
A vaccine to fight dementia? It turns out there may already be one — shots that prevent painful shingles also appear to protect aging brains. A new study found shingles vaccination cut older adults’ risk of developing dementia over the next seven years by 20 percent. The research, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, is part of growing understanding about how many factors influence brain health as we age — and what we can do about it. “It’s a very robust finding,” said lead researcher Pascal Geldsetzer of Stanford University. And “women seem to benefit more,” important as they’re at higher risk of
Eric Finkelstein is a world record junkie. The American’s Guinness World Records include the largest flag mosaic made from table tennis balls, the longest table tennis serve and eating at the most Michelin-starred restaurants in 24 hours in New York. Many would probably share the opinion of Finkelstein’s sister when talking about his records: “You’re a lunatic.” But that’s not stopping him from his next big feat, and this time he is teaming up with his wife, Taiwanese native Jackie Cheng (鄭佳祺): visit and purchase a
April 7 to April 13 After spending over two years with the Republic of China (ROC) Army, A-Mei (阿美) boarded a ship in April 1947 bound for Taiwan. But instead of walking on board with his comrades, his roughly 5-tonne body was lifted using a cargo net. He wasn’t the only elephant; A-Lan (阿蘭) and A-Pei (阿沛) were also on board. The trio had been through hell since they’d been captured by the Japanese Army in Myanmar to transport supplies during World War II. The pachyderms were seized by the ROC New 1st Army’s 30th Division in January 1945, serving
Mother Nature gives and Mother Nature takes away. When it comes to scenic beauty, Hualien was dealt a winning hand. But one year ago today, a 7.2-magnitude earthquake wrecked the county’s number-one tourist attraction, Taroko Gorge in Taroko National Park. Then, in the second half of last year, two typhoons inflicted further damage and disruption. Not surprisingly, for Hualien’s tourist-focused businesses, the twelve months since the earthquake have been more than dismal. Among those who experienced a precipitous drop in customer count are Sofia Chiu (邱心怡) and Monica Lin (林宸伶), co-founders of Karenko Kitchen, which they describe as a space where they
RSS