Just like last time, Bored Panda reached out to Masayuki Oki, a Tokyo-based photographer with a unique focus: capturing the everyday lives and diverse personalities of the city's stray cats.
Oki was captivated by the adaptive behavior of cats, especially their tactics to obtain food, which mirrored some of his own life's challenges. He remarked, "Before starting cat photography, I didn't know that cats go all out to charm their way into getting food. When I saw this behavior, even the proudest cats would act affectionately to achieve their goal. At that time, I was a corporate employee and not a very affable person. My work wasn't going well, so I tried to apply the friendliness I learned from cats to improve it. Although it was too late to see any improvement, I learned it was an important lesson for me."
Despite the challenges posed by the declining stray cat population in Tokyo, Oki finds joy in every cat he meets. He shared, "I consider it lucky whenever I encounter a cat, so I've never felt any difficulty in photographing them. Even if I don't get a good shot, I'm happy just to know that the cat is healthy. However, the number of cats in Tokyo is gradually decreasing due to TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) efforts. There are more days when I don't encounter any cats. As a result, I have started going to cat islands for photography."
Masayuki acknowledges the impact of other photographers on his work while humorously considering cats as his primary instructors. "I learned the philosophy of photography from Masato Terauchi, a Japanese photographer famous for his pictures of Mount Fuji. Although I am self-taught in cat photography, sometimes I feel as if the cats are telling me to capture the moment, making them my photography teachers. Personally, I also love the photos by Henri Cartier-Bresson."
The photographer also expressed a deep desire to further understand and bond with cats, envisioning a world where he could communicate more directly with them. "The world of cats that I see is very limited, and I believe there is still much about their world that I don't know. I don't know what kind of moments those would be, but being considered a friend by a cat and being able to talk with them would be the most surprising and joyful experience."
Reflecting on his decade-long journey, Masayuki remains committed to spreading happiness through his photography. "I've been photographing cats for 10 years now. I've always hoped that my cat photos would bring happiness to people around the world, and I approach my photography with that belief. It might sound laughable, but my feelings about this haven't changed. So, if I could hold a photo exhibition somewhere in the world and publish a photo book that brings happiness to someone, that would be great. I have an exhibition in Taipei in March, and I've received an offer to create a notebook with someone from Chile. I believe my dreams are gradually taking shape. Also, I hope to be able to photograph cats somewhere in the world."
