Cat Lovers in Taipei ﹥ Interview with Cat Lovers ﹥ Shiao-shien

Mr. Cat’s Friends: A-Zen and Mars | Animal Shelter Dr. Huang | Madame the Cat | The Feline Authority: Doctor Cat
Shiao-shien | Mao Xaio P | Animal Protection Association | Silverquick | The Head of Houtong Village: Van-ching Cheng
Shiao-shien
Introduction: Shiao-shien (Chiun-shien, Wang) is a cat photographer who has written books “Kung-Fu School of Cats”, “Seeing Cats with Beautiful Eyes”, and “Just the Right Way to Shoot the Cat”.  She has held more than 20 photographic exhibitions, including Shanghai and Peijing.

Q: Why do you want to be a photographer.
A: Simply because I have kept a cat and I wanted to record every move of it.

Q:  Have you ever kept another cat or other experience of contacting with cats?
  A: There are always pets in my family since I was little.  I would play with them and touched them once in a while.  I have always wanted to keep a cat or a dog.  Since I live in a small apartment, I think it’s wiser to keep a cat.


Q:  Did you adopt the first cat or buy it?
  A:  I bought it.  At first, I just like to see cats in a pet shop.  But I fell in love with my cat at the first sight, Beanie.

Q:  What will you do if the baby cats need to take ligation? 
  A:  Well, the animal shelter in Tamshui does not handle this.  You have to pay for ligation in a clinic.  Sometimes there will be free ligation in specialty clinic sponsored by certain foundation.

Q:  Have you been to Houdong?
  A:  Yeah, I have been there twice.

Q:  What do you think is the difference between the strayed cats in Houdong and in Tamshui?
  A:  Technically they are both called strayed cats.  But the strayed cats in Tamshui are “totally” strayed cats.  The strayed cats in Houdong are taken care of.  In comparison, the strayed cats in Tamshui are much harder to handle.  However, take the nature’s principla, you don’t have to rule the cats’ lives.

Q: What do you think when you hold a cat exhibition in Taiwan?
  A: Some people are really hard to change when they know nothing about it.  Strayed cats are everyone’s ability.  It’s no use wasting time arguing. I am trying to make people like cats through publicity.  When people like cats, they don’t want to hurt them.  I wish that one day I can hold an exhibition in KongDong.

Q: It seems hard to focus a camera when shooting a black cat.  Is there a way to solve this problem?
  A: You have to use stronger light.  Let the light shines upon a cat’s eyes.  It’s easier to focus.  Or, you can make the black cat hold a balled paper by teeth, then you will get a stronger contrast and contour.

Q:  You have mentioned that you want to raise a black cat.  Is it because that you want to challenge yourself in photography?
  A:  I have challenged myself actually.  I was just thinking that I have more chances to capture its figure if I have a black cat at home.  I quite the thought simply because there have already been too many cats in my place.

Q:  You have cats and dogs actually.  Which one you keep first, dogs or cats?
  A:  Cats first.  I didn’t mean to keep dogs.  It was an accident.  Having dogs will lower the living standard, to tell the truth.

Q:  Do the cats and the dogs get along well at home?
  A:  Nop, not at all.

Q:  Do you have any special memory when you shoot strayed cats everywhere?
  A:  It’s totally out of passion.  When you shoot a cat, you have to wait for a long time without moving.  The cats are really alert.

Q:  We know that cats are not easy to carry along. Why do you want to carry the cats to your exhibition?
  A: I will only carry one or two cats with me.  It depends on their personality.  The cats I chose are more out-going.

Q:  How to search the strayed cats?
  A:  Most of the time I drive slowly and look around.  Sometimes my friends will tell me where to find them.

Q:  If a cat lie down on your car or underneath your car, is there a good way to let it leave?
  A: Clap your hands lightly.  If they are scared, they will run away.  But I think the footprints they leave are very cute.  So I always try to shoot them first before I start my car in case I crash over them.