The Art of photography

RespondingtotheSubject:Love

PeterMagubaneknewwhomhewanted

to

photographfor

thisassignment:aman

hehadheardaboutontheWestSideof

Manhattanwholovedcats.Themanand

his

catswerewellknownbutlocatinghim

requiredsomedetectivework."Thefirst

day

I

justwaitedintheneighborhoodfor

aboutfivehours,andthenIgaveup.

"ThenextdayIwalkedintoeach

shop

andfinallycametoapetshopwhere

theownerknewhimandsaidheusually

boughthis

catfoodthere.Hetoldme

tocomebackat 11 thenextmorning."

Magubanedid,and

thereatlasthemet

schoolteacherRolandMcGriff—andSa-

sha,Omar,Tiki,Sabrina,Magic

Johnson,

andPuff,

aboardtheirspeciallycontrived

trainofchildren'sbicyclesandwagons.

Magubane

accompaniedMcGriffand

hispetsontheirdailyparade—which

suppliesexerciseforthe
catsandenter-

tainmentfortheneighborhoodchildren.

Hetookthepicturereproducedhere

as

theparade
crossedabusyNewYork

thoroughfare

not

farfrom

CentralPark.

TheshallowdepthoffieldshowsMcGriff

andthecatsinsharpdetail,butkeeps

the

urbanbackgroundfrombecoming

toodistracting.

"Theyall

wouldwalkaroundthisway

forabouttenminutes,"Magubanesaid,

"andthentheywould

stopforabout 20

minutes.Onawarmday,heneverstops

inthesun,alwaysintheshade.Andif

it's

too

warm

ortoocold,hedoesn'ttake

themoutatall.McGriffneverpermits

people

tofeedthecats.Hefeedsthem

himself:Hegivesthemicecream,crois-

sants

—

thesort

oftreatspeoplewould

enjoy.Infact,hetalkstothemashe

wouldtohis

own

children."

McGriffobviouslyconsidershisme-

nagerieanextensionofhis

own

family

and

lavishesonhiscatsparentalcare.

Magubaneemphasizedthisinhispic-

ture:Thepark-life

backgroundandthe

domesticgroupinghechosesuggest

a

familyoutfor

a

-stroll.