Big love from everyone

I was looking back at the event photos taken at our first year's exhibition and realised that 'Cats of The World' has come a long way. What started as a pet project has spun into a big-love community exhibition where people from all walks of life can take part in it and also view the photos for free. Over the years, our media friends have also been very supportive which helped to spread the word and love for us. This year, we are fortunate and grateful to be featured in the papers, tv, magazines and websites (see some of the articles here).

Hopefully, more sponsors will come onboard for the fifth instalment next year - and let's pray for more reliable and generous sponsors!. I have a vision to organise it into a lifestyle event where cat lovers can truly come together - at a flea market or charity dinner. Hooray!

**For more photos of the opening night and past years' cat photos for sale,

please look up "Cats of The World Photo Exhibition" on Facebook and become our fan.

Contributing Photographers of COTW 2010

CONGRATS to the 29 contributing photographers of “Cats Of The World IV” 2010! *applause*

Adriana Yue is a freelance web project manager and has an obsessive habit of collecting stamps on her passport and taking pictures of any strangers and objects, recreating scenes in any old movies she’s ever watched. She firmly believes she will end up like the crazy cat woman from The Simpsons.

Adriane Lee is a freelance film producer and designer who loves travelling, photography and all animals big and small. His wish is that people will adopt, not buy; sterilize, not breed, love and not abandon their pets.

Alexandra Jen Wong is currently waiting to grow up. Until that happens, she plans on travelling, writing postcards, taking pictures, and spending rainy days in the company of good books and lap cats.

Aloysius Low is a tech writer at popular website HardwareZone.com and recently took up photography as a hobby. Owner of two cats - Nomnom and Mookie, he keeps himself amused by trying to get them to pose for shots which he then spams all his friends with.

Amy Wan is a designer presently working in Singapore. Se loves travelling, good food and sports, and shares her home with three cats - Esky, Simba and Russell - who act as her bodyguards when she is home alone.

Barnie Leow is a professional photographer who enjoys taking occasional pictures of stray cats. While he shoots architecture, interiors, people and corporate portraits, the wandering stray cats will always have a special place in his heart, and in his frame.

Carlyn Law is a PR consultant by day and off duty, she is a hungry photojournalist who is always on the prowl for good food, green pastures and cats. As organiser of ‘Cats Of The World’ and mamma to two cats, she is thrilled that people are loving the exhibition. She wishes that everyone will love and protect the animals and nature on planet earth.

Chen Bin Yen is the co-founder of a local web design business who loves cameras and cats. These days, he only has time to shoot his nine-month old boy.

Cheoh Wee Keat is a student studying in London. He thinks that rocks and cats are the most beautiful things life has to offer, and that while both can be stroked, the latter is kinder to his hands. These two pet subjects are thankfully available in large abundance in Singapore.

Christopher Tan used to be more of a dog person, but his cat-loving friends and their cats have both rubbed off on him. One of the best compliments he has ever received was when a cat called Spot fell fast asleep in his lap.

Cyrian has come to appreciate nature and photography is his way of telling stories about nature, giving it a human context through his lens. He hopes that through his photos, he can show those caught in the rat race to take a moment and see the beauty of nature around us.

Dave Law KH is a semi-professional photographer whose day job is leasing of heavy machineries. Preferring his Olympus PEN more than his DSLRs, he is often mistaken as a Vietnamese/Thai/Filipino. His works can be seen on http://www.emotively.com/

Dennis Lee is currently working as a technical support engineer with RBS WorldPay. He owns two adorable cats at home and likes to spend his weekends roaming around Singapore taking photographs. He is very much into travel, landscape, portraits, cats and food photography.

Gary Quek and his wife Alice love their two cats and one dog. Working in civil service, Gary loves The Beatles, modernism, mountain biking, architecture designs and shopping in Tokyo. He is currently fantasizing about a villa in Lombok.

Jassica Lee thinks that cats are the purrfect companion - elegant, graceful and independent. When she's not pretending to be pomelo cat, Jassica enjoys taking snaps of them.

Ketan Shah took up photography five years ago. He loves the challenge of photographing stray cats, as they force you to look in places people don't normally look, and to make quick shooting decisions. They are great skills to have for all kinds of photography.

Kyle Leung is a budding photographer who likes cats as much as humans. He communicates in LOLSpeak whenever possible and is constantly in fear of being neutered. He also runs a food blog for humans.

Lawrence Liu is a student at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. His passion lies in photographing moments that will bring a smile to the faces of the public. Being a cat lover himself, he often plays with stray cats and takes pictures of them. He hopes to have a dog and a cat staying with him in his dream home some day.

Lee Yan Leong is a public officer who loves to spend his free time on nature photography. He has a weakness for cute little animals, especially cats and enjoys shooting them whenever he goes.

Lucinda Law adores felines of all sizes, particularly her 17-year old tuxedo cat, Jarvis, and is fascinated by what a cat is called in various dialects and languages. Her recent favourite is 'ginger cat' in Teochew dialect.

Matthew Lee is an IT professional who loves to shoot scenery, stray cats he meets, and unsuspecting humans he knows. He feels it’s good to regularly take time to just laze and watch crazy humans scurry about, or just simply nap like cats.

Meredith Jones is currently studying to be a Visual Arts teacher. She loves to take photographs especially of Coco when she is being playful. Coco likes the attention and is very photogenic. She is also very affectionate and loves to have her fluffy belly rubbed when she lies on the couch.

Natasha Chooi is a corporate planner who lives with five dogs and many cats (don’t ask). Most of her time is spent with her pets and community cats (occasionally dogs). She loves cats for their prima donna personality.

Sulin Lee is currently a D.I Artist at a wedding photography company. An avid cyclist (road hazard), she spends her weekends exploring Singapore and playing with kitties that she meets along the way.

Tan Chek Wee’s philosophy is “A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” - Albert Einstein

Tan Shung Sin edits pictures for a living at an international news agency. He loves photography, music, travel and cats big and small. He finds himself taking more pictures of furry felines than humans on his travels.

Vanessa Sng is a fashion design student from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts who spends her free time looking for cats to befriend. She wishes she could just keep one special kitty but that idea has sadly been shelved due to a factor called “Mom”. Other than kitties, she enjoys shooting fashion portraits in her free time.

Xander Lee is currently an Art Director at Ogilvyone Singapore. When he’s not searching the internet for the next cat related viral video, Xander finds time to enjoy the little things in life (like catching up on the latest episode of Doctor Who).

Wendi Wandler volunteers with animal rescue in Canada, and organizes and promotes fundraising events. Her background is in marketing and advertising. Photography is a hobby and she absolutely loves photographing cats.

Opening madness

Hi folks, we had a fabulous opening nite at The Arts House on 2 June 2010. It was a mad last minute rush to set up the captions and all, but we did it right on time, just as the guests started to stream in! Just from last night's sale of cat photos, postcards and the photographers' contributions, we've raised S$600 already and at the first Sat, we made another S$260.

We're targeting S$1,500 this year so do show your support for the rest of the exhibition. Visit our Facebook page for more pictures on the opening night.

We'll be there every Saturday in June from 2pm to 6pm to sell the past years' cat photos and postcards which are $2 each (or 3 for $5). For more queries, please email me at sublime.carla@gmail.com

Special thanks again to:

- Joy and Kevin from Purple-Pixel.com for sponsoring the lovely cat postcards

- Richard and May of MicroGrafix for printing the photos and standie banner

- Annabel and team of The Arts House for the gallery space and support

Opening nite of COTW IV 2010

It has been a hectic week selecting the final 45 cat photos for COTW IV, but finally they are sent to print at MicroGrafix (thanks Richard!). This year, we're also making them into lovely cat postcards (thanks to Joy and Kevin of Purple-Pixel.com!).

We have a fantastic line-up of cat pics this year taken by 29 photographers, so come for the preview on the opening nite on 2 June Wed at 7pm at The Arts House (1 Old Parliament Lane; opp Boat Quay/ nearest MRT: Raffles Place). Cat Welfare Society will be there too, so lend us your support. See ya!

Tiger Show

How apt it is that this year we welcome the Year of The Tiger - a giant pussy cat! 'Cats of The World' is just 2 and half months away, and we still need more entries! But before that, we've put 20 cat photos up for sale at the Tiger Show from 21 to 28 February 2010 at Post Museum. Organised by Cat Welfare Society, the week-long event offered cat merchandise, arts & crafts, photos, and seminars. Don't miss it! Do your part for them by donating or volunteering. For more info, visit www.catwelfare.org

COTW 2009 was a success!

Hi there, Thanks for visiting COTW III at The Arts House - I can't believe it's over already! We had a blast and the turnout was great. Everyone loved the cat photos and bought many new cat magnets which bumped up this year's proceeds to S$1,334 (posted already to Cat Welfare Society for their wonderful catch-sterilise-release programme). We still have many cat photos @ $50 each for sale if you want to do your part. I want to give a big thank you to our kind sponsors, all the 24 contributing photographers and supporters. Thanks for making it happen.

  I'm also very happy that many people are very inspired after viewing the cat photos and will be on the prowl for cats so as to join next year where we'll be back at The Arts House for the whole month of June 2010. 

Although cats are such beautiful and photogenic subjects, it certainly takes a keen eye and quick reflex to capture them in their elements. But with practice and patience, I'm sure you'll be able to develop a talent for it! 

 If you haven't joined our new fan page on Facebook, please visit this link to view the whole collection: www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Cats-Of-The-World-Photo-Exhibition/96538201918?ref=nf Grazie mille! 

 **On a sad note, we just found out that one of the cats featured last year, Yum Yum, has just passed away and is in kitty paradiso now. He's the fat shy fellow shot napping on the bookshelf and will be greatly missed. **The media coverage on 'Cats of The World 2009' has been excellent - thanks to our media friends, especially those who love cats! See some of the clippings below:

 

Cats Of The World III in 2009

Ciao everyone! We have shortlisted the 40 pictures contributed by 24 photographers this year for ‘Cats of The World III’ Photo Exhibition. I'm also pleased to announce that Fancy Feast, Canon Singapore and MicroGrafix, have come onboard as our official sponsors this year. Canon provided the quality printing solutions for the photos and Fancy Feast gamely sponsored the door gifts, tokens of appreciation for the photographers and cash of S$200 for the 40 frames. 

With such encouragement, we hope to stage a bigger show next year and perhaps a cat flea market to coincide with the opening weekend. For more ideas|leads|contacts, please email me at sublime.carla@gmail.com Also we're proud to have our special guest at the opening - Cat Welfare Society - hurray for their relentless care for our feline community. Don't forget to spread the word and check out the 3-week exhbition from 9 to 28 July 2009at The Arts House . 

Admission is free. This year's selection has many gems, including hot destination Greece which is a hotbed for cats! We also have cats from Taiwan, China, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, Italy, Germany and of course Singapore. 

HUGE THANKS TO OUR KIND SPONSORS AND FRIENDS: 

Venue: The Arts House www.theartshouse.com.sg Printing: Canon Singapore www.canon.com.sg 

Frames/ Gifts: Fancy Feast www.fancyfeast.com 

Cats Of The World Logo: Morpheus Creative 

Cat magnets artwork: Joy Phua, graphic-web designer (joyphua@gmail.com) 

Exhibition banner: Micro Grafix Inkjet (221 South Bridge Road Singapore. Tel: 62272832) 

‘Cats Of The World III' is dedicated to uncle Anthony Yeo who passed away recently unexpectedly. He and his wife actually babysat our first cat Jarvis when he was adopted from SPCA as a four-month kitten, while my sister and I convinced our parents that a cat is coming to stay with us for good. Jarvis is now 15 years old.

Contributing photographers to COTW 2009

Contributing Photographers Of “Cats Of The World III”

Alexandra Jen Wong is a student at ACS (Independent). Her favourite things include postcards and polaroids, the sound of the sea, and her typewriter. She longs for more drizzly days spent in the company of good books, as well as her two dogs and five cats.


Barnie Leow is a professional photographer and the main contributor to CWS’ cat photo book “The Real Singapore Cat” in 2005. Photographing stray cats started off as a hobby to capture the quirks and smirks of the many strays he encountered in Singapore. His works have earned international mention at the Lucie International Photography Awards.


Carlyn Law is a PR consultant and part-time photojournalist who longs for her own organic farm where her cats - Jarvis, Ripley and Mimi - can roam free. She dedicates this year’s exhibition to Uncle Anthony Yeo who passed away recently. He and his wife babysat her first adopted cat Jarvis (4 months old) while she and her sister convinced their parents that a cat was coming to stay for good. Jarvis is now 15 years old.


Cheoh Wee Keat is a student studying in London. He thinks that rocks and cats are the most beautiful things life has to offer, and that while both can be stroked, the latter is kinder to his hands. These two pet subjects are thankfully available in large abundance in Singapore.


Chew Li Sie loves cats since young. She currently has 3 cats that she absolutely adores. You can visit her cats’ photo gallery at www.mypeppycats.com/gallery




Denise Tan works with the Spanish Tourism Board and loves taking shots of cats from Spain to Singapore. She is always browsing on deviant art for inspiration and spends her time figuring out how to improve her photography. Her favourite test subject? Her ragdoll cat, Piper.





Eric Ng likes travelling but doesn’t travel nearly enough. He eschews tourist traps, preferring to go on foot exploring the back streets and glimpse at the way of life left relatively untouched by progress. In between trips, he freelances as an event and wedding day photographer.


Faith Tan is a walking paradox just as a cat is - aloof but playful, beautiful but bestial, independent but highly in need of attention. Amazingly, she's got Jekyll & Hyde living under the same roof in perfect harmony for 21 years now. She longs to travel around the world and is currently living part of that dream sailing down Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia!




Goh Yam Guan is a full time IT professional, who found his passion in photography 6 years ago. He enjoys travelling and photography and loves to mingle with animals.



Heinz Gebhardt came across this exhibition by chance. In his life, cats and cameras always go together. Cats of all types have lived in his house and watched over him. With photography, he discovered his talent and passion, shooting beautiful pictures of his hometown, Munich Germany. www.muenchenfoto.de




Janalin Tan and Terence Koh dote on their Manja and will do anything to make their FIV+ kitty comfy and happy. It is their lifelong dream to open a cat sanctuary and take in all stray, abandoned and sickly cats, with a special hospice section for felines with incurable diseases.



Jeremy Gopalan has been known to stop in his tracks each time he spots a cat, wherever he may be or whatever he may be doing, to meow at it. He doesn’t know what he might actually be saying in meow language, but figures it can’t be anything too rude as the cats often respond. His friends are occasionally amused but usually bewildered.

Ketan Shah took up photography as a hobby 4 years ago .He loves the challenge of photographing stray cats as they force you to look in places people don't normally look and to make quick shooting decisions - great skills to have for all kinds of photography.



Koh Zhisheng is a research assistant at NUS Department of Psychology. Photography is one source of expression to him and to look at and understand the world. Sadly, that is insufficient to understand cats’ behaviour, and so he will be turning to Google in the next 5 minutes.



Lawrence Liu is a student at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. His passion lies in photographing moments that will bring a smile to the faces of the public. Being a cat lover himself, he often plays with stray cats and takes pictures of them. He hopes to have a dog and a cat staying with him in his dream home some day.


Lee Yan Leong has always enjoyed photography and spends most of his free time out in the fields doing nature macro-photography. Being a cat lover, he wishes to capture the beauty and natural moments of cats. He will always carry his camera wherever he goes to shoot cats.



Lucinda Law adopted Jarvis, the handsomest tuxedo cat 15 years ago that made her and her sister adore cats forever. Today, she is very happy to see one of the countless photographs of her muse on show and is continuing her efforts in persuading him to live until 30 or be immortal.

Ng Ling Tze is a full-time artist who loves to paint cats and enjoy the company of cats. She fell in love with them when she met her first cat, Ban Ban, at a friend’s house in 2002. She loves cats for their elusive and endlessly fascinating personalities. Her cat drawings and paintings are on sale at Barang Barang, Cat Socrates and The Shop at Art House. Visit www.slothstudio.com

Noelle Tan is a cat lover who sadly does not own a cat - yet. That will soon change hopefully as she continues to appreciate the intrinsic elegant beauty of the feline species. This PR consultant enjoys photography, cooking and travelling.

Peter A. Robertson is an Australian karate instructor by profession and just arrived in Singapore in February to be with his new wife Veronica. He loves taking pictures and Veronica has him interested now in capturing the strays under his block, who are now getting used to seeing this ‘ang moh’ with his camera in ‘their’ neighborhood.

Rebecca Ho fell in love with the feline species as a child. She remembers her childhood living with her maternal grandmother, whose neighbour owns a mini-zoo at the 17th storey of a HDB block. Of the animals kept, she befriended a pretty calico which unfortunately took a fatal plunge.

Tan Chek Wee is a doctor who is part of a team of health care givers who care for the elderly in the community (community geriatrics) and also people who are reaching the end of their lives in their homes (hospice home care), and who believes that all sentient beings are interconnected like the web of a spider.

Vanessa Sng is a fashion design student from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts who spends her free time looking for cats to befriend. She wishes she could just keep one special kitty, but that idea has sadly been shelved due to a factor called “Mom”. Other than kitties, she enjoys shooting fashion portraits in her free time.

Zhao Gang is a Chinese national working as an engineer with Volvo in Italy while studying the Italian language and appreciating the finer things of the Italian culture. He is primary a dog lover and misses his dogs in China but decides to submit his cat photo for the exhibition.

Raise n' shine

Just to let you all know, we've raised S$1,122 for the Cat Welfare Society from the exhibition to date and a cheque has been posted to them! But there are a few magnets and many gorgeous photos from the 2007 & 2008 collections to be bought at only S$30 each, so do approach me or go to our Facebook group to view the collection! A big thank you to everyone who have helped - from the photographers, friends, sponsors and cat lovers.

"Cats Of The World" On FaceBook

Ciao! The photo exhibition has sadly come to an end last weekend. Funnily we took so long to put it together and so fast it's over! That's why the organisers have decided to make it at least 3 weeks next year (tentatively in June). We are currently sourcing for venues and sponsors for more whacky framing / presentation ideas, so do contact us if you have any input!

On a happy note, we sold another cat photo to a Canadian reporter as we were taking down the photos. According to the Arts House, visitorship for 'Cats' has been high, and they saw people just coming in for the exhibition (yay!). And many of you have given us a lot of encouragement (thank you) so we're definitely pushing on with a stronger show next year.

To encourage greater accessibility to 'Cats', we have created a Group called "Cats Of The World Photo Exhibition" on FaceBook so do join us as a member! All the 40 photos are also put up on this platform so do view them online if you haven't been to the exhibition and would like to buy a photo for just $50 (hint hint)! Ta ;)

P.S: That's my tuxedo cat Jarvis in the photo if you're wondering.