I have a new gig. I am a volunteer cat sitter on Broadway in Nashville when I go into the city to take street photography on Saturdays. I have been making this trek most Saturdays since October. It is fair to say I am getting to be a regular with the other regulars, a combination of homeless people, street entrepreneurs and folks like me who have a certain calling. I suspect I am no more or less strange to the Broadway revelers than any of the other regulars.

I got to know Matthew over several weeks. It started with me contributing to cat’s lives, as Mathew encourages us to do with his signs printed on cardboard. One week I finally asked to take photos. The next week, I just sat down across from him and watched. You could call it, “on the job training.” Four Saturdays ago, Matthew asked me to cat sit while he went to the Dollar Store to purchase canned cat food with some of the donations. Sure, why not? I like to think he saw me as responsible and kind. All in all, the first day went well. The cats did not behave as well for me as they do for him. By that I mean they sometimes crossed under the fence toward traffic. I was sitting on the ground, so that created a small crisis in getting up quickly to shepherd them. We all survived. I got to witness a rather endearing scene when one of the cats saw him coming in the distance. When mom or dad arrives there is universal joy that cuts across species.

Bad weather kept me home for the next three Saturdays, but I was out and about this week. When Matthew saw me walking toward his encampment, his face truly lit up. It has been a long time since someone has been that glad to see me. Sure enough, he asked me to tend his flock of two cats for a bit. Maybe the third cat, the one particularly drawn to wandering out of bounds, was on disciplinary time-out this week. In any case, I had put myself in training to get up and down a little more easily, which paid off handsomely.

Sometimes you just have to turn your back and close your eyes.

I took my place by the fence. The young cat took her place on my lap. So it began. People can be remarkably kind. One man came out of a nearby honky tonk with a to go box. I could see the shock on his face when he saw me. Bless his heart, he offered me the box. Shortly after Matthew left, he decided to come back for a little more money. He reached in the tip jar and took some out. A woman saw it and thought that he was stealing from me and my cats. She rushed up to tell me. It was genuine care. I think I was a pretty good fund raiser, although the credit really has to go to the cats. People were generous with their contributions. Some wanted to put money into my hand instead of the tip jar.

You might wonder about what in the world would cause me to do this. There are a couple of plusses for me. Let’s start with the least absurd and finish with the most absurd.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about being a street photography fisher. My particular new interest is fishing from a low POV, point of view. That pretty much means squatting or sitting. Sitting is less problematic. It seems perfectly normal to sit with the cats. It is actually the street stealth of all street stealths. I am generally not too interested in taking pictures of people who live on the margins of society, unless I have their permission. However it is fascinating to take pictures of people who are trying to relate to people on the margins of society. For a small period of time, sitting with the cats and the signs and the tip jar, that is me they are trying to relate to. I know they see my camera, but I sure don’t think they see me taking pictures. It is just too far outside of expected.

The hunter and the hunted. I am pretty sure this fellow is a street photographer. We took each other’s pictures. Under any circumstances, his was more interesting.

Getting back to the business of this blog. Like every single thing I have ever tried in photography, there is a learning curve. I did not get a single picture of interesting perspective that I hoped for. But I am tacking closer to the skill. The more interesting pictures occur when your subjects are close, really close. If you can get a stride it will be more dramatic. I have never timed to get a stride, so that is a skill I have to develop. Maybe next week?

As far as the really absurd, I definitely enjoy challenging people’s stereotypes. I got years of practice working on the sandwich line in my Subway stores. I was not a minimum wage worker, but I sure got to walk in their shoes while they were at work. Word to the wise, don’t talk smack about minimum wage workers to me. I also do not live on the margins of society. I am pretty sure I don’t look like I live on the margins of society. And yet, that old Gestalt Principle of Proximity worked exactly as promised. When humans see things in close proximity in a photo, they think they are related. The people saw me, the signs and the cats. What other conclusion could they reasonably come to? It was honestly like living out a comment I might make on a photo. I was the compositional contrast. You could see people trying to put the scene together in their minds.

It is the best fun I have had in a long time. See you next week on Broadway at about 2:30? I will be where the cats are.

If you have a minute, take a peek at my new gallery, Upside Down Smiles.

Dedicated to Street

The Other Story in Street Photography - Cat Sitting on Broadway in Nashville