Chelsea Cat

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Barry W. Hollritt, 2004

This is “Chelsea Cat”, though he probably has a real name.  On a wonderful spring evening in New York, walking through Manhattan with a dear friend who had arrived from the West Coast I was taken for a split second by this wonderful feline in a window.  Walking and talking in conversation about the delightful Chelsea architecture, it was appropriate that in this old Chelsea window, I was awestruck by the look of the cat.  He or she was actually looking at my friend, so the eyes are focused in a strong look to the right of me.  The light was very poor, and I really didn’t believe an image would be preserved.  I raised my camera in an instant and managed this one exposure… truly believing that the look would be lost to memory because of the very low light.  Joyfully, the settings were correct and “Chelsea Cat” is now a part of my work.  I love the shadowy, soft feeling of the image, and of course, the wonderful look in the eyes of the cat.  Again, the cats are finding me!