By: Liz and Rex

A few months ago, John approached me and told me about a book which subject matter was purely cats. You’ve gotta be kitten me… he must be pulling my leg. Then, tongue-in-cheek, he asked how many copies we should order; “ALL OF THEM!” I declared. So he ordered a handful. As the resident cat lady here at The Camera Store, I’m paw-sitive I was probably the only one excited for this book to come in, and when it did my life changed. Okay, so I’m probably exaggerating a bit here, but as soon as that book hit the floor, I purr-chased it.

My cat, Rex, and I finally had a chance to sit down and take a look through the book together, and we had some thoughts:

Liz: The very first thing I noticed about this book was the bright, rich, royal colours. The beautiful purple free endpapers were screaming “I am beautiful, love me!” and the soft blue cover just make it that much easier to find on my bookshelf. This book obviously pays close attention to detail, and was put together with love. Not only are the small details like the pace-down well thought out, but also the details in each photo are impressive – the royal colour theme carries on in each page. The pillows, backdrops, everything is royal… just like the cats.

Rex: I love this book Food Lady bought for me. I was surprised when she brought it home, though. It seems a bit racy… She keeps talking about colours but I don’t know what those are. All I see are pretty lady Kitties and shades of grey… about fifty of them, actually.

Liz: …

Rex: *licks butt*

Liz: Walter Chandoha perfectly captures the quirky personalities of cats in his book; every single photograph featured in this collection displays your typical variation of sleepy, playful, curiosity, or “I don’t care” cat-itude. As a cat owner, I am privy to the furr-ustrating 3am “run at full speed around the house” sessions, as well as the over the top adorable moments, when I try to take a picture to share with friends only to be thwarted by that weird sixth sense cats seem to have when someone is taking their picture.

Rex: Hehe… Food Lady thinks she owns me.

Liz: As I was saying… that is what makes this book so impressive to me. I understand how difficult it can be to capture a cat in everyday life, and Walter Chandoha has made it look effortless. These cats look comfortable, and very obviously trust this man, which is a feat in itself in an environment with studio lighting and accessories.

Rex: I don’t understand why Food Lady kneads to look at these other cats. She has me. I tried to show her by sitting on the book, that I am right here, but she just meow-ved me!

Liz: There is no short supply of cat photos with the Internet, but this book is really something different. This man obviously loves what he does, and he loves the cats he works with.

Rex: These cats have no dignity!!

Liz: The Cat Photographer is absolutely a must-have for crazy cat ladies like myself. It is cute, funny, and imaginative. These photographs offer a temporary escape from reality if you’re having a rough day, and I couldn’t be more excited to share it with everyone.

You can find Walter Chandoha: The Cat Photographer