All images by Cat. Used with permission.
Cat, or “Kitty” as she prefers to be called, is a photographer with an incredible sense of symmetry and composition. She draws her inspiration from stuff that she sees on Instagram and Eyeem and recently travelled to Stockholm and Copenhagen to shoot places that she had seen in her feed. But she also gets inspired by everyday experiences. “…Waiting for the train, walking downtown, running through the park. Creativity begets creativity- the more I shoot, the more I’m inspired.” states Cat. “You start with one idea in mind and end up with something completely different.”
Cat is part of the significantly growing number of photographers that is exclusively mobile. She uses an iPhone 4s along with apps like Filterstorm and VSCO. “I like the ease of mobile photography. I don’t have to lug around a heavy camera and I’m ready for any situation.” says Cat. She continues to state that her phone is always in her hand and most people don’t notice her shooting unless I’m laying on the ground or bending over backwards.
For Cat, getting the right image can take anywhere from a few seconds to a couple of hours of work. But that’s just the shooting aspect–editing is usually just a crop or flip though that can take hours, days or even weeks for Cat to get it just the way she wants it. “There are times when I just have to start from scratch- grab my phone and go shoot it again.”
What drew us to Cat though is her fantastic sense of symmetry–which she think is a bit tough with an iPhone because the lens is off-center. “I have taken many photos that I thought were great only to discover that they are not perfectly centered later. Sometimes is not a big deal (I try not to let my perfectionism ruin my art), but I’ve lost some great shots because I was in a hurry and not paying attention to this small detail.” says Cat. “This is especially noticeable in “low-down” shots.”
Cat believes that mobile photography has democratized the art world because it is now open to anyone and everyone. Indeed, you don’t need to buy expensive equipment to take a good photograph and it is instead just about art. “Alternately, this opens up these communities to the dreaded ‘selfies’, ‘drunkstagrams’ and my least favorite- ‘lattegrams’. Ugh. The hope is that a person who thought that these kind of photos are the only thing you’ll see on Instagram or EyeEm will find that this is not the truth once they start to explore.” states Kitty. “Hopefully, they will be inspired by the kind of magic that is possible to create and challenge themselves to go beyond the ‘duckface’.”
In fact, Cat believes that Instagram changed her life. She had a long love of photography since she took a couple of classes in high school and it remained an interest. But when Instagram came around, it refueled her interest for the craft. “The other amazing thing about these social photography platforms is that they bring like-minded people together from all over the world. I have met some of the most wonderful people that I probably would not have met otherwise- both in my home town and abroad.” says Cat.
Indeed, folks often get together for Instagram walks where they meet up with one another and have loads of fun together.
Here is some of Cat’s work.