Photo book Hong Kong Market Cats, sequel to shop cats, shows wilder side of city’s felines
Following last year’s Hong Kong Shop Cats, photographer Marcel Heijnen is releasing a second book on the shier, more transient felines seen around the city’s market stalls, with alley cats and China shop cats possible future titles
Dutch photographer Marcel Heijnen, whose 2016 book Hong Kong Shop Cats struck a chord with fans of the furry felines, focuses his lens on less pampered pets in a follow-up book to be released next month.
Hong Kong Market Cats captures a different class of the creatures – wilder, shier and more transient, Heijnen says.
In pictures: The allure of Hong Kong’s shop cats
“It’s got a different feel to it. It’s a bit more grim and desolate … because some of the cats in the markets are not owned by the stall owners but are strays that come into the market to see if they can find food,” the 53-year-old says.
“The shop cats, I found, are quite revered by their owners. The owners are really nice to them in most cases. They feed them well. They sit on the counter. With the market cats, you go back to a stall and it’s like, ‘oh, the cat... that one you photographed, it died.’ Or, ‘that one ran away and I’ve got another one.’ Or they’ve got seven cats, they think. It might be eight.”
Hong Kong Shop Cats, featuring pets Heijnen mostly spotted in the neighbourhoods of Sheung Wan and Sai Ying Pun, where he lives, was an instant sensation. The first print run of 1,000 sold out within three weeks of the book’s launch last December, and a second batch of 1,000 also got snapped up. A third print run will be on shelves soon.
The number of followers of Heijnen’s Instagram account, @chinesewhiskers, where he posts his cat photos, has almost doubled to more than 22,000 since the book’s publication.
Heijnen says Hong Kong Market Cats, which he will self-publish with an initial print run of 2,000 copies, was a natural progression. He spent last year photographing the creatures in shops, markets and alleyways across the city. Hong Kong Alley Cats might be another book, he says.
