‘Not Necessarily Cute’: Photos of the Wild Stray Cats of Bangkok

This article originally appeared on VICE Germany.

Photographer Nikita Teryoshin is a cat person. Out of all the things she could photograph during a trip to Bangkok in September 2019, she decided to spend a week devoted to stray cats. Then she published the shots in a limited edition mag called Catzine, featuring feline faces only.

Teryoshin came up with the idea in Saint Petersburg, where she was tasked with taking photos at a defence weapons fair. Seeing businessmen in grey suits all day didn’t prove particularly thrilling, so she started photographing the strays in the area. “It immediately lifted my mood,” she says.

The cats in her photos look different from our cute, lazy pets – they’re more like wild animals fighting for survival on the streets. “My idea was to create a counterpoint to meme cats on the internet,” Teryoshin says. “The series isn’t your typical Instagram cat content. These cats are not pampered, groomed, and pushed around in strollers.”

Although they’ve been a part of our society for what feels like thousands of years, stray cats aren’t welcome everywhere. The first challenge the photographer faced was finding them. “In most cities, you find street cats in poorer neighbourhoods, where they’re more likely to be fed,” she explains. “In wealthier areas, they’re usually chased away.” 

After finding them, she could only hope they wouldn't immediately run away. In fact, the cats she photographed aren’t socialised around humans at all, because most people are afraid of getting diseases if they pet them. “It almost felt like I had to establish a form of communication with them,” she says. “Sometimes I’d try to make animal noises to persuade them to stay.” Which seemed to work, according to Teryoshin. 

Some cats were shy, others curious and almost extroverted. The photographer remembers one particular cat she photographed at a Buddhist temple, where the strays were only fed rice. “Spoiled house cats probably wouldn't even look at that, but those animals had nothing else to eat,” she says. “That cat must’ve been very hungry, but you wouldn’t have guessed it because he just kept playing with me.”

Some of Teryoshin’s images can be hard to look at – she even removed some shots from the series. “I photographed a cat with a missing eye and nose,” she explains. The cat was kept in a small cage in a sort of shelter, but the owner assured her it was only temporary, and that a vet would soon take care of them. “I don't know if that was true,” she says. “When I went back to my clean, beautiful hotel, I felt terrible.”

This project ending up teaching Teryoshin more about humans than about cats. When she was feeding strays in Saint Petersburg, some residents yelled at her because they were afraid the cats would scratch their cars. On the other hand, she saw a lot of people feeding them in poorer areas of Bangkok. “Once I saw an older woman in a very humble house taking care of stray cats,” she adds. “She probably didn't have much, but she wanted to help.”

With her photos, Teryoshin wants to celebrate the lives of these street cats, creatures often forgotten by society. She says she now has more respect for them than ever before. “They don't have an easy life, they struggle every day,” she says. “They’re not necessarily cute, but they’re real predators.”

Scroll down for more pictures: