The importance of a final portrait.
This blog post is in honour of all our aging, elderly animals, the ones that have most likely been with us throughout their entire lifetime.
For me, as a pet parent, as well as a photographer, it’s extremely important to record and document our animal’s lives beyond just their cute kittenhood or puppyhood. Photos from their adult years, in the prime of their life, show an animal who is healthy and bursting with life and vitality, or at least I hope that’s the case.
As our animal’s age, our once perfectly black animals get white whiskers instead of black ones and white stubble on their chins to make them look like a properly old man or woman. For me these are a badge of honour, a testament to a life well spent by our side….years of loyalty, friendship and unconditional love. These are the things money can’t buy, unbroken friendships, the faithful friend who is always there when all else fails in life.
I for one, want to record these changes in my pets, I want to be able to look back and see them as kittens, young adults, and then finally, in their last years here with me. I want to see it all, youth and beauty in my animals as well as the crinkly, white whiskered, saggy tummy’d animal they are as they get older. As a photographer I have taken thousands of photos of my pets (as well as my human children!)….tons on my phone as everyone does...I’m no snob here, and then tons using my professional equipment to get studio quality portraits. And while I will always say to take tons of pics via your phone….I’d strongly advocate for at least a few professional pics of your pets throughout their lives. Professional quality portraits will pick up details you just can’t see in phone quality snaps. The miniscule details and vivid colours of their eyes come to life with proper equipment and studio lighting in a way that cannot otherwise be reproduced. Also, every single detail of their fur will be captured, with every strand showing how it would feel to reach out and touch it…..soft, wiry, course, long, short, sleek, smooth….you get it.
I’m showing you two photos here, one a montage I took of my cat Louis as a young kitten, fully black and sleek as anything. The other photo was taken just 10d before he had to be put to sleep due to kidney failure. We knew Louis wasn’t going to last too much longer, he was 18 years and 9 months old and had various chronic health conditions that were under close supervision and treatment. When I took this final portrait, he was still healthy enough to be full of life and happy, so I have no regrets that I look at it. Instead, when I look at this, I see his white whiskers, white chin stubble, his old man’s body and I see nearly 19 years of unreserved, unfaltering love from an amazing cat, one who will forever be a major part of me….and I realise how blessed I was!
Louis as a sleek young kitten.
This photo of my cat shows every single detail and reflection in his eyes….their deep forest green colouring and just how soft, downy and whispy his fur was…and looking at it, I can remember exactly how it felt to lose my hands in his gorgeous fur.
This photo has been printed and framed to nearly 1 meter in height!!! It sits right next to my bed, next to where he slept every night, and where now I can look up and see every single detail of my gorgeous boy.
Please remember to get portraits of your animals throughout their lives, and don’t forget one in their final years…you’ll never know how much these portraits will mean to you once they’ve gone.
PS...can you see our little kitten in the bedroom, looking up at the portrait of Louis! She's 9 months old and still quite petite....she was found abandoned in our garden last year in a very poor state. We ended up taking care of her and she became the newest member of our family - Jelly, short for Jellybean.