Stalker

Wilmslow Animal Sanctuary asked if I’d come and shoot some of their residents for a calendar. I volunteered my time, turned up with a camera, and was immediately presented with this Bengal — who had clearly decided that the camera was either a threat or a toy, and was going to investigate either way.

The shot required getting flat on the grass and letting it come to me. Which it did, at pace, with intent. The eye contact is not incidental — this cat was locked on from the moment it spotted the lens, ears forward, tail up, covering the ground between us with the kind of focused determination that explains why small birds don’t last long in suburban gardens.

Green eyes sharp against the warm rosette markings, the garden fence dissolving into soft bokeh behind. It had no idea it was being photographed. Or it knew exactly, and didn’t care.

Either way, it made the calendar.