This past summer Williamson County Animal Center asked if I would be interested in working on a special project for them. They wanted to do an art installation showing the strong emotional bonds that exist between humans and their pets. Since I specialize in photographing cats, my part would entail photographing ten guardians with their cat (or cats) previously adopted from the shelter. One image from each session will be printed to hang on the walls at the shelter. Once the project is on display at the shelter I will do a special post showing the installed art. Until then, I’m sharing a blog post from each session sharing the variety of endearing images captured of the guardians with their beloved cats. This is post one in a series of ten. I thoroughly enjoyed working with every guardian and all kitties photographed were exceedingly irresistible! It’s definitely more challenging photographing a cat being lovable with their human than showing the individual personality of the cat. For many cats, the sweet moments shared daily with their guardian are intimate and quite often reserved for times when no one else is around. Because of this, the project was both challenging and a great learning experience! Nevertheless, I’m pleased with the way the project turned out! Now it’s time to look at images from my first session
The first time I met Cheeto was at Williamson County Animal Center in early September of 2015. Cheeto (formerly tails) was a stray kitten who was found with his sibling Shiloh. Like many kittens and adult cats, Cheeto was extremely shy, cautious, and a little fearful. Typically in such situations, a kitten or cat fares well with a little tender loving care in a foster situation. Cheeto’s now mom (Kelsey) was and still is a volunteer at WCAC. When she wasn’t busy attending nursing school at the time or studying, she was tending to the kitties at the shelter. Isn’t that impressive?! When Kelsey met the adorable, timid, ginger kitten he melted her heart almost immediately. Shortly after meeting him she knew he would benefit from being fostered and decided to foster little Cheeto. The first group of portraits show Cheeto as a kitten. Wasn’t he adorable?! In no time at all Kelsey and Cheeto quickly developed a bond and Kelsey became what we happily refer to in the shelter and rescue world as a foster failure!
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Now Cheeto is a handsome, confident, happy cat who is adored by Kelsey! When he is not being cuddled and played with by his mom, he is busy hanging out with his buddy Ollie (pictured below). Ollie is a tuxedo cat whose human is Katie (Kelsey’s roommate). The two young kitties get along so well and have all kinds of fun when their moms are away at work. So if you are considering adding a kitty to your family, please consider adopting a shy cat. Most often the way a cat behaves at a shelter or rescue can be very different than when they are in a home environment. Given the right environment, and a patient guardian who understands cats, a timid cat will thrive in no time at all. And behind every happy cat is a happy human!
