This was part of the Kitty and Fish Series that we shot for the Photogenic Toy Project.
The Kitten and Goldfish series was taken to integrate two opposite elements: a plush toy and a live goldfish. Four photos total were initially taken of the kitten, but the intent is to present them as a triptych that tells the story of desire, temptation, and pursuit.

The first photo is of the kitten looking at a goldfish swimming by. The goldfish is his object of desire.

The next photo in the sequence depicts the kitten leaning up against the fishbowl, driven by the forces of temptation. There are two variations of this shot. One is of the kitten with his paws up on the fishbowl, ready to get his fuzzy little paws on the goldfish. The second variation is taken with the kitten sheepishly looking back toward the camera as if he got caught.

The last photo of the series shows the kitten reaching his little paw into the fishbowl in pursuit of the object of his desire.

The goldfish is intentionally colored while the rest of the frame remains black and white for the purpose of singling out the object of desire and manipulating the viewer to devote his or her attention to the goldfish as well (bringing the viewer’s focus into line with the focus of the kitten who is the main subject of the photograph).

Several elements stand out in this sequence. First, the use of a water-filled fishbowl creates an interesting element of distortion that makes the goldfish in the first photo a bit larger than life, allowing a depiction of how the kitten sees it in his mind. Second, the glass and water offer opportunities to play with reflection and light refraction in the creation of a unique composition. Finally, the juxtaposition of opposites (a live goldfish being pursued by a stuffed-kitten) is further underscored by the opposite nature of the colors that are attributed to them. The kitten is black and white. He is not alive. On the other hand, the goldfish is bright orange showing life, which is what the kitten wants (perhaps because he does not have it).

This series shows a stuffed-animal kitten who initially feels helpless. He is on the other side of the glass bowl, looking at a fish that he cannot have. Photographs two and three show how much he wants the fish, but he is helpless and powerless because he is only a stuffed-animal. In the last photograph, however, the kitty overcomes what would appear to be seemingly insurmountable adversity to pursue his heart’s desire. It is this sentiment that viewers can identify with and relate to. Everyone at some time in their lives has reached a point when they thought that nothing could be done, but the kitten comes as a reminder that with a little determination, things that once seemed impossible can in fact be accomplished by the most insignificant of beings.

Yesterday, I went to my local Toys R Us store here in Dierikon, Switzerland and was surprised to find this big cat. Took it home for CHF 49.90 (about 48 USD).

July 23, 2008