Let’s start the week out right, and get some kitties adopted! Here are some of the latest cats I’ve photographed that need homes. Quite a few ginger gentlemen this time. I’ll be catching up with other sessions after Bumbershoot, but until then, I hope you love these little faces and love your holiday today!
xo ~ K
All cats are up for adoption at Animal Talk Rescue!
All Images Copyright K.A.Moore Photography.
Licorice. Copyright K.A.Moore Photography.
My heart is happy tonight for this sweet little guy, Licorice. He was my foster kitten in the Fall of 2011, and was then adopted out a couple of months afterwards. But he came back to us, apparently too ‘hissy’ and bonding more with the family’s other cat, than with the people. He was at the rescue yet again but then in a the lucky foster home, where his new guardians fell in love with him! I have thought of this little sweetie since those days of snuggling under my neck when he was just a teeny little thing, and have hoped and hoped to hear this. Finally a furever home!!
I love you buddy!!! xo ~ K
I took some photos of my mum’s cat Louie on my recent trip back home to England; a beautiful white cat – even with him being ear-less, he still was handsome (lost his ears to skin cancer some years ago). Yet I knew these would be the last photos I would take of him. After twenty years, his body was ready to shut down, and I could see that in his every move and his tired but still-magical eyes. I would watch him slowly make his way up and down the stairs, with much effort thanks to arthritis. He couldn’t see properly anymore; high blood pressure had made his retinas detach and caused blindness. And he couldn’t hear anymore either. Sometimes he would sit basking in the sun, looking happy as most cats do when doing just that, but he usually seemed restless, not knowing how to be comfortable.
A loved companion animal has a gift in terms of a loving human caretaker knowing when it is time to end the suffering by choosing euthanasia. Most animals know death and illness far more cruel, or have never even felt loved before. But it’s the hardest decision to make, even when you know it’s what is best; to end the suffering and give that animal peace, after giving so much of themselves to you. Twenty years is a long time, so much can happen in two decades. There’s so much love and attachment that happens in that time; they become part (and so often, become the spirit) of your home. It’s very hard to let go…
I’m glad I was able to get some end-of-life photos of Louie, particularly to give my mum and stepdad. Photos don’t replace memories, but they are a way for us to freeze time and hold those special moments close. So as much as I love taking photos of all sorts of things that embody life – new babies, children, parties, of animals looking for a new life (and family) of their own – I actually hope I can capture more special and precious memories like these, of companion animals before they pass on.
You fought hard to stay alive, my friend.
In the end, though, you couldn’t conquer death.
But neither did death conquer you.
Death cures all diseases, mends all broken bones,
Breaks all chains.
And made you free at last.” ~ Anon
Rest in Peace, little Louie. xo ~ K
Louie, May 2013
Copyright K.A.Moore Photography. All Rights Reserved
I have finally wrapped up my biggest session yet that involved both the growth of a lovely family, as well as growth in terms of myself as a photographer, and I’d love to share.
What started with a grandmother-to-be of a friend asking me to take some candid baby shower photos, this ‘session’ turned
into a several months-long photography journey for me, following the family from the baby shower through to photos of twin boys at a few months old. Basically a total of five separate sessions, which covered the shower, a maternity session, a couple’s session and two separate baby sessions of twin boys. And among all that I also took photos of their 4 cats and their dog!! The journey allowed me to explore my strengths as a photographer and presented me with new challenges and types of photography that I had hoped to explore. I also discovered the areas where I need to learn more and improve. Ultimately I feel so grateful to have had this opportunity, and I feel so proud to now have all the prints and products to turn over to the new parents.
When a photographer is invited in to take photos during times like this, it’s not just an experience for the client or family, it is also a journey for the photog. I’ve seen (and personally experienced) the joy and hope that comes with expecting a baby; it was enlightening to see it all from the outside, as I documented it all. I still regret not having my own maternity photos done when I was expecting (or a proper newborn session), so this story unfolding gave me much to reflect on, and it became very important to me to make sure I treated it with the same care and hope as if it were my own photos being done. When I went through my own pregnancy and labor/delivery, I also didn’t have the fortune of having family here, so I was also in awe of this loving, supportive family being a part of it all (and thank goodness, since it’s twin boys!).
A few things that I think are worth sharing:
So tomorrow I get to hand deliver prints, a gallery wrap, a flash drive of images, a couple of 10×20 triptych standouts, two 16×20 collage standouts, plus a few surprises, all in some fun hot pink wrapping and I am just so excited. I have learned so much from this, both personally and professionally (and photographically), and I am grateful. Many many thanks to the Piha/Amato family! I can’t wait to hopefully take more images of the beautiful family again.
xo ~ K
“Growth is the only evidence of life.” ~ John Henry Newman
First post since I came back from England; I’m a naughty girl for not posting anything sooner since I’ve been stateside! I have been busy wrapping up a mega session; that will be another post…
First of all, for Father’s Day, I want to say a big thank you to all the men out there who love cats, give cats wonderful homes, and especially who have come into Animal Talk to adopt one of our cats; many of those cats are adults and needed a home for a long time. I also always feel grateful to all the cat-loving folks out there like myself, who love their cats (and other pets) and give them safe and loving homes.
But the central point of my post here is that I’m a believer of the concept that real men are the ones who love cats!! (How dare she say that?!) I think there is a common (and I think silly) perception out there that cats often just make great pets for women, as opposed to men: that women are ‘cat-people’ and that dogs are MAN’s best friend. There are all sorts of quotes and opinions out there that perpetuate and demonstrate that stereotype, that women go with cats (and are likened to them, plus who can ignore the moniker “crazy cat lady”?), and men with dogs (and are likened to them!). Here’s a smattering:
“Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.” ~ Robert A. Heinlein
“If man could be crossed with the cat, it would improve man but deteriorate the cat.” ~ Mark Twain
“I am not a cat man, but a dog man, and all felines can tell this at a glance – a sharp, vindictive glance.” ~James Thurber
“Cats are very independent animals. They’re very sexy, if you want. Dogs are different. They’re familiar. They’re obedient. You call a cat, you go, ‘Cat, come here.’ He doesn’t come to you unless you have something in your hand that he thinks might be food. They’re very free animals, and I like that.” ~ Antonio Banderas
“Guys are like dogs. They keep coming back. Ladies are like cats. Yell at a cat one time…they’re gone.” ~ Lenny Bruce
Some of you blokes out there do enjoy the company of kitties, despite the pervasive stereotypes that women are ‘cat-people’, and men are ‘dog-people’. Supposedly though, men like dogs because they are obedient and submissive (which makes them ‘easier to own’, so they say) and enjoy simple things like catching a ball; they are also generally not so graceful when it comes to ‘grooming habits’ or eating (case in point: compare a cat cleaning itself with a dog doing so – no contest here, I think). Cats are seen as more complicated, demanding, overly-sensitive, and how can you argue with the grace and beauty of felines? I also asked my test subject – my five year-old boy – if he thought dogs/cats were more like men/women, and he said “Men are like dogs. Girls are like cats.” Hmmm, maybe it is quite obvious then.
Despite the number of people who are afraid of dogs, there is quite the number of people who are ‘intimidated’ or freaked out by cats; isn’t it interesting how a cat usually spots the human in the room that is not a ‘cat person’ and tries to convert them?! This intelligence I tend to liken to female (feline) intuition. And why is there a ‘Cat Woman’ and then the werewolf (I’ve never heard much about female werewolves)? I think it’s even common place to call a cat you don’t know as being a ‘she’, and a dog is at first assumption a ‘he’.
![Mark Twain's cats "Wide Awake" photo by Elmira photographer Elisha M. VanAken, 1887 [Photos from the Dave Thomson collection] "He would call (the cats) to "come up" on the chair, and they would all jump up on the seat. He would tell them to "go to sleep," and instantly the group were all fast asleep, remaining so until he called "Wide awake!" when in a twinkling up would go their ears and wide open their eyes." - Anonymous article titled "The Funniest Writer on Earth. Some Anecdotes about Mark Twain," The Rambler, Dec. 24, 1898.](https://kamoorephotography.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/catsawake.jpg?w=620)
Mark Twain’s cats “Wide Awake”
photo by Elmira photographer
Elisha M. VanAken, 1887
[Photos from the Dave Thomson collection]
“He would call (the cats) to “come up” on the chair, and they would all jump up on the seat. He would tell them to “go to sleep,” and instantly the group were all fast asleep, remaining so until he called “Wide awake!” when in a twinkling up would go their ears and wide open their eyes.”
– Anonymous article titled “The Funniest Writer on Earth. Some Anecdotes about Mark Twain,” The Rambler, Dec. 24, 1898.
Winston Churchill Charles Dickens
Albert Einstein T.S. Elliot
Ernest Hemingway John Lennon
Freddie Mercury Isaac Newton (he even invented the modern-day cat-flap for doors)
Mark Twain Edgar Allen Poe
Confuscious Franklin Roosevelt
H.G.Wells Marlon Brando
James Franco Jack Kerouac
Joey Ramone Kurt Cobain
Bill Clinton Jackson Galaxy (cat whisperer, host of ‘My Cat from Hell’: a show you HAVE to see)
Coincidentally, there are quite a number of cats that look like Hitler (‘Kitler’) as if to say ‘stuff it’; enough for there to be the website catsthatlooklikehitler.com
*Now is a good time to point out that Adolf Hitler was well-known to despise cats. ‘Nuff said.
For any man who has been/is in my life, it has kind of been a personal requirement that they love animals, and that must include cats. I believe you possess considerable empathy and compassion to love animals (especially the aloof and complicated kitty), and that’s a biggie, at least for me. My man I think actually is truly jealous of the attention that my handsome Jeffers gets from me; maybe I should give him a kiss in the morning before the cat?!
So if you’re a guy who can unabashedly love the crazy ways of the feline: them being affectionate only when they want to, demanding and temperamental, thank goodness for you, and I think you’re in good company. Cats deserve to be worshipped like they expect to be!
So cheers and Happy Father’s Day to all you ‘cat-daddies’ out there – and here are some of the lucky Animal Talk cats that have been adopted by men from us recently. You rock!! And at least in my book, in case you didn’t know – yes, real men do love cats.
xo ~ K
PS. Our favorite male kitties though? They’ve been ‘fixed’…please spay and neuter!!
PPS. I love both dogs and cats…and I like that they are different. Suits me happily. But this tiger may well have been a cat in a former life.
Top L to R: MacDuff, Cami, Apache
Middle L to R: Jaxyn, Squeaky,Poxie
Bottom L to R: Lenny, Clara, Sookie
K.A.Moore Photography 