I didn't expect that the biggest takeaway from this trip was not the photos, but the "ninety." In the shot, its pair of "I am the protagonist" attitude completely overshadowed the desert road and the vast sky behind. He was leaning against the window with a thoughtful look on his face, as if he were deep in thought about some plan to save the world, and I was just the humble photographer charged with documenting his feats. This "cat and man road adventure" started at a gas station. At that time, I was leaning over the car to clean the lens, ready to go to the next stop to take a shot of the sunset and the dramatic contrast of sand. Suddenly, a striped kitten jumped on the hood and stared at me with ridiculously green eyes. I tried to chase it away. He didn't budge and licked his PAWS, as if acquiescing to our companion relationship. So, I opened the door, and it jumped into the co-pilot without saying a word, and sat down as if it had just finished its own check-in. After that, things went exactly as you can see in the photo - it used my car as its own studio and my camera as an interactive toy. When shooting it, it is always a "big star shooting a big movie" attitude, but also from time to time reach out to point the shutter, taking a bunch of fuzzy photos comparable to abstract art. I'm getting used to it, but anyway, the casualness is in keeping with the tone of improvisation on the road. Of course, it is not all about "professional ethics". For example, at a gas station in a small town in the middle of the desert, I got out of my car to look for water, and it jumped so lightly from the window onto my shoulder that I almost dropped my water bottle. Later, it was found that it was looking at the distant roast chicken stall under the shade of the tree.
At one point, we drove into a remote canyon. As the morning sun slanted into the car, I adjusted my rearview mirror to find it in a "hero's gaze" position on the window, the edges of its ears illuminated by light. I held up the camera and it actually cooperated, turning its head slightly sideways and wagging its tail, as if every stop on the trip had been a red carpet for it. I remember very well that day at the canyon side, I asked him: "Hey, the journey is coming to an end, what are you going to do next?" He didn't respond, just jumped out and gracefully licked his PAWS on a rock by the side of the road. I think it may have understood that life is like this road, starting and ending, and some fate is only suitable for staying on the road. But when I opened the door to go, he jumped back to the passenger again and patted me on the leg with his paw. So, it successfully moved into my home, I called it "ninety", nine life cat, ten degrees edge. Once in a while I see this picture in my rearview mirror and I wonder: Who said someone picked up a cat? Maybe it picked me as a supporting character in its story. "Every journey has a meaning, but sometimes the meaning is hairy and clawed."
@📷 frankly.erik
