I reworked my artists statement after talking with Julie and Zane and concentrating more on the three core ideas of subject, content, and form.
This work is
a collection of photographs of a colony of alley cats. I hope to portray their
life as accurately as possible and through them to bring light to the lives of
all feral cats. The reality that they are all individuals, and that they want
the same things we do: food, security, and affection. There are five cats in
the main family, Flip, Flop, Duke, Duchess, and Two Face Kitty. There are also
a few other characters that wander in and out of the story. I hope this book will show not
only the humanity, but also the humor of the lives of these complex creatures.
The point of
this book is to change the idea of what an alley cat is. There is a stereotype
of a mangy scrappy animal that is oftentimes mean or vicious. The huge
misconception is that feral cats are diseased, cause noise, and should be
scared away. In reality colony cats live just as long and are just as healthy
as house cats. The cats in this book are the exact opposite of the negative
stereotypes about feral cats. They are clean, friendly, and have been fixed. A major aesthetic influence
on my work was the book Abandoned America: The Age of Consequence by Matthew
Christopher My setting is an abandoned house and I have drawn many parallels
between his work and mine. I find the pealing paint and rusting metal offsets
the softness of the cats very poignantly, speaking on how like their house they
have been forgotten. Another influence was Ernie: A
Photographers Memoir by Tony Mendoza.
The idea of photographing a cat, in a thousand different ways, showing
the humor and the seriousness in the life of an animal, and in that way,
revealing those aspects in ourselves really spoke to me.
This work is a collection of photographs taken over the span
of a year detailing the lives of the cats who live at 32 Parkwood Avenue. The
photographs are compiled into a book arranged chronologically by month. Because
my work is focused on portraying the very real beauty of these cats all of the
pictures are completely unedited. They are full color, and un-cropped, exactly
as I took them. I was not, however, worried about disturbing the environment of
the cats. As their neighbor I feel I am inherently part of their environment
and so my actions are not disruptive to the truth of the photographs.
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