[CAT] Randy Moravec, Claude

[rfmcdonald]

Randy Moravec, Claude
Originally uploaded by rfmcdpei

A commenter in a recent friends-locked conversation suggested that one reason cat owners seem to be much more imaginative about their cats personalities and intellects and interests than owners of other pets is that cats, unlike (for instance) dogs, are decidedly independent, doing whatever pleases them with relatively little regard for human wishes. This observation occurred to Randy Moravec before he composed his 1992 photo essay book Claude (official site here). After he had seen all the activities that his handsome black-and-white cat would do different things, Moravec provided his friends with precise figures as to how much a cat would do something over its projected seventeen-year lifespan, that its average food-related attention span was 2.16 hours, for instance. The whole small, slim book is devoted to explorem, pairing a black-and-white photo of Claude doing something with a figure and related observation on the facing page (that cats' food-related attention span are almost indefinite, giving them the impression of being "truly devoted" pets). The photos illustrating Claude's behaviour are well-shot and do a good job of illustrating Moravec's amused, almost bemused, observations of the different skills and interests of catdom. I'm glad that I came across this very pleasant book, and am certain that other cat aficionados would enjoy it as much as I did.