Thurston Hopkins
Cats of London, 1951
Vintage Gelatin Silver Print
Series: Cats of London
10489
Further images
Literature
Picture Post, 24 February 1951
Stamped on the reverse Camera Press and with a lengthy typewritten label of narrative text: One of Thurston Hopkins' first photo stories in Picture Post and one of the most...
Stamped on the reverse Camera Press and with a lengthy typewritten label of narrative text:
One of Thurston Hopkins' first photo stories in Picture Post and one of the most celebrated of his career, was his 'Cats of London' (published 24 Feb 1951).
The feature was inspired by the numerous cats on the streets of London. The blitz had made many cats homeless, and these stray cats lived wild on the bombsites, surviving by scavenging. Cat flaps were unknown, so even cats with homes spent musch of their time outdoors and would be put outside at night time.
Comparison of the present photograph with its appearance in Picture Post shows that it was straightened up, so that the name of the ship appears horizontally, the angle of the ropes were changed, and partially cropped. Since the photograph ran across the gutter of the magazine spread, these changes were an elegant way of bisecting the photograph in a manner that was formally strong, helped balance the composition, and that did not necessitate the clumsy bisection of the rope or the cat. The tighter crop also allows the viewer to focus on the cat, not the ropes, which otherwise compete for attention.
British Photography / The Hyman Collection
One of Thurston Hopkins' first photo stories in Picture Post and one of the most celebrated of his career, was his 'Cats of London' (published 24 Feb 1951).
The feature was inspired by the numerous cats on the streets of London. The blitz had made many cats homeless, and these stray cats lived wild on the bombsites, surviving by scavenging. Cat flaps were unknown, so even cats with homes spent musch of their time outdoors and would be put outside at night time.
Comparison of the present photograph with its appearance in Picture Post shows that it was straightened up, so that the name of the ship appears horizontally, the angle of the ropes were changed, and partially cropped. Since the photograph ran across the gutter of the magazine spread, these changes were an elegant way of bisecting the photograph in a manner that was formally strong, helped balance the composition, and that did not necessitate the clumsy bisection of the rope or the cat. The tighter crop also allows the viewer to focus on the cat, not the ropes, which otherwise compete for attention.
British Photography / The Hyman Collection