Not Your Usual Shutterbug|猫眼看世界

by Leigh Goldberg

Get a cat's-eye view of the world from Cooper the cat.

His name is Cooper, and he is taking the art world by storm. How can this five-year-old American Shorthair housecat that walks on all fours possibly create art? He doesn't, but the little digital camera strapped around his neck does.

Cooper took up photography three years ago thanks to his owners. Both filmmakers, Michael and Deirdre Cross were curious about what Cooper was doing while they were out during the day. So, they attached a lightweight digital camera to Cooper's collar. The camera is programmed to take a photograph once every two minutes and is encased in plastic so that it shoots rain or shine. Once a week, Cooper is sent out to document his world. From six inches above the ground, Cooper is constantly shooting while he explores the neighbors' yards, sneaks through the bushes, and crawls under cars. His images range from simple shots of the pink flamingos in his front yard to more artistically composed views of the sky. Cooper's best photos are uploaded to his own Flickr and Facebook accounts, the latter of which already boasts nearly 70,000 fans.

Cooper's success story doesn't end there. This former stray tabby has appeared on several TV shows and in various newspaper and magazines, had gallery exhibitions around the world, and published a collection of his photographic works of art. A portion of the proceeds from all his print and book sales go to the Progressive Animal Welfare Society or PAWS. Cooper is definitely the cat's meow.

猫眼看世界

透过古柏这只猫的双眼，看看牠眼里的世界是什么模样。

　　牠的名字叫古柏，牠在艺术界造成了一股风潮。这只用 4 条腿走路的 5 岁美国短毛家猫怎么能创作艺术？牠并没有创作艺术，而是由系在牠脖子上的迷你数字相机来代劳。

　　古柏 3 年前会开始摄影全拜牠的 2 位饲主所赐。克洛斯夫妇麦可和戴德儿都是电影制作人，他们很好奇古柏在他们白天外出时都在干什么。所以，他们把一台轻巧的数字相机绑在古柏的颈圈上。这台相机设定每 2 分钟拍摄 1 张照片，而且被装进塑料盒里，这样无论晴雨都可以拍照。古柏每星期都会被放到外面 1 次替自己的小天地作纪录。当古柏探索邻居的庭院、偷偷进出灌木丛，以及在车底爬行时，这台距离地面 6英寸的相机不断地拍照。牠拍摄的照片包罗万象，有自家前院粉红火鹤的简单照片，也有更具艺术构图的天空照。古柏拍下的最佳照片都上传到牠自己的 Flickr 和 Facebook 账号，而后者更是吸引了近 7 万名粉丝。

　　古柏走红的故事尚未就此结束。这只曾流浪街头的虎斑猫已经在几个电视节目和各式报纸及杂志中亮过相，也在全球举办展览，还出版了牠自己的摄影集。牠印刷品和书籍的一部分收入捐给『动物福利促进协会』（简称 PAWS）。古柏真是只让人刮目相看的猫咪。

如今，随着全世界爱猫人士愿意出高达 200 英镑（约台币 9 千 5 百元），购买古柏拍的附框照片，令牠变得更炙手可热。牠的饲主至今已帮古柏办过 2 次摄影展，并将牠的作品销售至世界各地。

古柏拍的一些照片甚至帮牠自己解决了 1 个问题，因为克洛斯夫妇从照片中发现牠不断地望着后门，才想到牠需要一个猫用活板门（cat flap）。（数据源：自由电子报）

想一睹古柏的摄影功力，可上牠的 Facebook 点阅：

http://www.facebook.com/photographercat#!/media/albums/?id=108993887999