a catalogue.
East Van Cats is my response to the burgeoning ranks of the upwardly mobile dog, and the concurrent fetishization of him by his people. Vancouver has Dog gy Spas, Doggy Bakeries, Doggy Clothing Boutiques, and is the home of the upscale pooch’s very own magazine, Modern Dog. Even the BC SPC A’s fundraiser, Pause for a Cause (of which I am a staunch supporter) is very canine-centric. Dogs have been photographed, theorized, and represented in art and history. [See: To the Dogs (Arsenal Pulp/Presentation House) a handsome coffee table book resulting from a col laboration between Presentation House Gallery and poet Peter Culley.] The dawn of the urban dog is now.
And yet, according to Scientific American magazine, the house cat is the most popular pet in the world. The cat is harder to anthropomorphize, and impossible to contain. Cats occupy the space between the urban and the natural, the designed and the random. . [See: Rudyard Kiplin g’s The Cat that Walked by Himself.]
Cats rule East Vancouver. They’re everywhere…sidewalks, roads, hiding in doorways, supervising stores, sprawled out anywhere to have a bath. The cats I meet while wandering through East Van are probably all house-pets but it’s not clear who ‘owns’ them. Cats are all about territory, but all space is public to them.
Stay tuned…When the project is finished I hope to have photographed every one of the East Van Cats!
August 2009: East Van Cats has been serialized by most awesome Vancouver blog, VancouverIsAwesome! See it here.
all photography by Nikki Reimer unless otherwise noted.
(C) 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
east van cats 2004-10
- Amy & Bill, Hastings-Sunrise, February 2010
- Bill, Hastings-Sunrise, February 2010
- Sniff, Grandview-Woodland, February 2010
- Conehead, Grandview-Woodland, February 2010
- Grandview-Woodland, February 2010
- Oscar at Bibliophile, Grandview-Woodland, January 2010
- Chaucer at Bibliophile, Grandview-Woodland, January 2010
- Hastings-Sunrise, January 2010
- Xmas Cat! 2009
- Hastings-Sunrise, Dec 2009
- Hastings-Sunrise, December 2009
- Daisy, Hastings-Sunrise, November 2009
- Strathcona, October 2009
- Jackson, Riley Park-Little Mountain, August 2009
- Mount Pleasant, September 2008
- Annie, Grandview-Woodland, October 2009
- Goldie, Grandview-Woodland, May 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, May 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, April 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, May 2009
- Hastings-Sunrise, June 2009
- Hastings-Sunrise, June 2009
- Renfrew-Collingwood, June 2009
- Strathcona, June 2009
- two cats, Renfrew-Collingwood, June 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, June 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, September 2009
- Hastings-Sunrise, August 2009
- Citi, Hastings-Sunrise, September 2009
- Hastings-Sunrise, September 2009
- Hastings-Sunrise, September 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, September 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, April 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, July 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, July 2009
- evidence of Jackson, Riley Park-Little Mountain, August 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, October 2009
- Renfrew-Collingwood, June 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, July 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, July 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, July 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, Sept 2009
- stray kitten, Hastings-Sunrise, Sept 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, April 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, April 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, April 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, May 2009
- Hastings-Sunrise, May 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, April 2009
- Hastings-Sunrise, May 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, May 2009
- Blaze, Kensington-Cedar Cottage, August 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, May 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, April 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, October 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, October 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, May 2009
- Grandview-Woodland, April 2009
- Oscar, Hastings-Sunrise, October 2008
- Grandview-Woodland, November 2008
- Bella, Hastings-Sunrise, March 2008
- Hastings-Sunrise, July 2008
- Oliver? Chewy? Hastings-Sunrise, November 2008
- Gypsy at Tiger Tiger, Hastings-Sunrise, September 2008
- Riley Park-Little Mountain, August 2008
- Yoda on 16 bus east, September 2008
- Grandview-Woodland, September 2008
- Riley Park-Little Mountain, August 2008
- Hastings-Sunrise, September 2008
- Hastings-Sunrise, July 2008
- Hastings-Sunrise, March 2008
- Hastings-Sunrise, September 2008
- Bill, Hastings-Sunrise, August 2008
- Ferris, Hastings-Sunrise, August 2008
- Grandview-Woodland, November 2008
- Ferris, Hastings-Sunrise, March 2007
- Grandview-Woodland, 2006
- Grandview-Woodland, 2005
- Coco, Riley Park-Little Mountain, June 2004
- Hastings-Sunrise, 2004
- Eggad, Hastings-Sunrise, 2004