Nikon & Nigel – 12-year-old Abyssinian Cat with White Mouse on his head.

Nikon was owned by a good friend of Rachael’s, so Rachael knew the cat well, Nikon is a gentle giant; when Rachael came up with the idea to photograph a mouse on a cat’s head she knew exactly which cat, if any, would tolerate such a feat. Thinking the worst Rachael bought a whole cage of mice to the shoot, just in case, but Nikon was exceptionally well behaved and didn’t even blink an eye when Rachael placed Nigel on top of Nikon’s head; he was so laid back it was even a challenge to get him to be enthusiastic when we held a mouse in front of him to get his attention to the camera. Nigel was adorable and very brave, he just perched himself amongst Nikon's fur and sniffed the air, almost as if he was showing his best side for the camera, he may have been a little nervous though as he left a little calling card on Nikon’s head. A striking portrait of an unlikely pair that would make a gorgeous wall display in your home for any cat and mouse lover.

This image was published in Rachael’s first cat book 101 Cataclysms: For the Love of Cats and also in Rachael’s book It’s a Zoo Out There.

Nikon and Nigel were photographed by Rachael in the living room of Nikon’s owner's home, using Rachael’s 4x5 inch Toyo View film camera on TMAX 100 B&W film with a large Elinchrom Octa Studio Flash.

* This image is from Rachael’s earlier work, which were all photographed using a Large Format 4x5 inch Film Camera, and occasionally an 8x10 inch Polaroid Camera. Rachael used a very shallow depth of field when photographing with film cameras, this gives these images a softer more painterly quality when printed, the prints still look stunning in all sizes and make magnificent Art pieces, they just don’t appear quite as crisp as an image created on a digital camera.

This image looks great framed using a Black or a White Frame, with or without a white border.