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In 2016, Marcel Heijnen made his first dedicated trip to Shanghai to photograph cats. In all kinds of small shops and alleyways, he was always able to find cats of different shapes and characters. He especially enjoyed wandering through the shikumen neighborhoods, searching for cats along the way.
Yet over the years, he has found it increasingly difficult to spot cats in the city. “Fortunately, I’ve been photographing this city for the series for a full decade,” he says.
In this book, you will encounter both the bustle and energy of the metropolis and the quiet stillness of its alleyways. He deliberately creates a sense of rhythm throughout the pages, like consecutive frames from a film, occasionally drawing you back to that time and place in Shanghai.
The book is divided into three chapters: “Together,” which presents the interactions between humans and cats; “Being,” which focuses on the cats themselves; and “Being Together,” which places the cats back into their surrounding environments. Poet Tam Jiong-Ching has written verses to accompany these vivid photographs, using concise language to connect with the deeper emotions behind the images.
‘Cats are, of course, the protagonists of these images. Yet at times, these furry little creatures also serve as “icebreakers” that anchor a scene — giving me a reason to smile at shop owners and exchange a few words before pressing the shutter. In China, such an opening often leads to a warm invitation: “Come, sit down and have a cup of tea.” In this way, those fleeting moments continue to live vividly beyond the frame.’ — Marcel Heijnen
About the Photographer
Dutch photographer Marcel Heijnen lived in Singapore and Hong Kong for over three decades and now divides his time between Amsterdam and Hong Kong. He has consistently developed a diverse body of photographic work, ranging from feline subjects to art-related themes and everything in between, set against the backdrop of urbanization and transience, capturing different facets of street life in major cities.
2016年，馬奕修第一次專程前往上海拍攝貓。在各式各樣的小店與弄堂裡，他總能找到形態各異的貓咪。他尤其喜歡在石庫門街區漫步，尋找行走其間的貓。然而多年過去，他發現在這座城市尋找貓的身影變得越來越困難。他說：「好在，我已經為這個系列拍攝這座城市整整十年了。」
在這本書中，你能看見大都會的喧囂與繁忙，也能感受到弄堂裡的寧靜。他刻意在書中營造出一種流動的節奏，彷彿觀看電影的連續畫面，時而將你帶回彼時彼地的上海。
本書分為三個章節：「在一起」呈現人與貓之間的互動關係；「在」聚焦於貓自身的形態；「一起在」則將貓放回牠所處的空間之中。詩人談炯程為這組生動的照片寫下詩行，在簡潔的文字中勾連圖像背後更深層的情緒。
「貓咪自然是這些影像的主角。但有時，這些毛茸茸的小生靈也像是凝住風景的『破冰者』——讓我有理由向店主微笑致意，在按下快門前寒暄幾句。在中國，這樣的開場白往往會換來熱情的邀請：『來，坐下喝杯茶吧。』讓那些瞬間在底片之外繼續鮮活地延伸。」—— 馬奕修
攝影師簡介
荷蘭攝影師馬奕修（Marcel Heijnen）曾在新加坡與香港居住三十餘年，如今往返於阿姆斯特丹與香港兩地生活與創作。他長期致力於發展一系列攝影作品，題材橫跨貓科動物、藝術創作及其之間的多元面向，在城市化與瞬息萬變的背景下，捕捉各大城市街頭生活的不同側面。
