Playful while shooting
Not-so-serious photography
It has been a few months since I posted to Medium and wrote for Full Frame. I had been meaning to get back for a while, but time was not on my side. Between work and that MA I decided that I had to do, time was a premium after February.
That said, while I was not so active here, I continued to shoot almost every day. Portrait shoots, documentary shoots, and photowalks were aplenty. I shot Seoul Fashion Week again, too. I need to do a write-up on that, and I need to share some color work here, too. I am proud of my color, and I do not think I have posted any of it to Medium.
However, I wanted to drop back in about something simple. Amidst all that shooting, amidst the drama on social media, I wanted to share some shots that are just pure fun to me.
“You live in cat city,” a friend told me the other week. They said they’re jealous. Really, it might be true. I have been to a lot of places, and I have never seen as many stray cats as there are here in town.
At one point, the city tried to pass an ordinance to begin managing them. People got extremely angry.
Maybe this is cat city. The people here seem to love the cats. They set up winter shelters in wooded areas. Those tiny shelters have food bowls and water bowls that people bring out for the cats. Maybe we are the right mix of rural and urban for the cats to thrive outside.
Nearly everywhere I go, there are a few cats. On my walk home from work, I counted six cats tonight. For the most part, they aren’t aggressive towards people. Most are quick to run away, but when I approach slowly, they let me take their picture.
And I oh so love to take their pictures. They roost on top of old walls and outside shops. They roll around in the dusty streets. By my apartment, there is a small colony of cats that were born last spring.
It’s funny because with the shelters people leave around, they are not quite the wanderers you might expect. Many seem to have their own spots to call home. A local restaurant has boxes and bins outside where another handful of cats tend to sleep. I guess they’re still doing their part. I have only seen two or three rats in years.
That small colony puts a smile on my face, too. When I see one bounding across the road, there is usually another one close behind. With a goofy little run, it is easy to get lost in that playfulness and forget the more troubling aspects of life. The cats remind me of the mindfulness of photography itself: simply be present.
Thus, cheers to the cats. Cheers to the little smiles they give me along my walks. They break down the more serious projects and thoughts into. Between heavier self-assigned photo work and demanding model shoots, I might be so lucky as to come across a cat that is willing to pose.
In the end, I always try to remind myself that I am supposed to be having fun with all of this. Medium, posting to social media and taking pictures for myself are all things that should give me joy.
So, there it is. The end of a 3-month posting hiatus. It’s a little different from my more introspective documentary style, but I hope you took a moment to enjoy a few photos of cats being cats.
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Hans has been doing this photography thing for over two decades now. If you want to see more of my work, I stick mostly to Medium and . While my Medium focuses a bit more on storytelling and documentary-style photography, my Substack is a bit more of a free-for-all. Cheers~
