Mrs. Torres, right, kneels over to pet her cat Bee Wee on Friday, Jan 25 in her home in Mount Pleasant, Mich. Mrs. Torres regularly sits on the floor to be near her since Bee Wee can no longer climb up on the couch. “I do anything for her. All her needs come before mine. I know we are both old now and more than likely won’t be around for too long but I would want her to go first because I don’t want her to be left alone. I know no one would really take care of an old cat and she is very peculiar in her ways,” she said.
Mrs. Torres was born in Chile, but moved to Michigan and taught Spanish at CMU for 37 years. She is more of a lonely woman, since she is was on only child and her only daughter lives in New York where she teaches Spanish as well. “I don’t have many friends, but the people I have I cherish dearly. As long as I have my little girl, Bee Wee, I live happily here tending to her needs as she keeps me company,” she said.
Gracefully names for her fur colors, Bee Wee is a twelve-year-old cat who spends most of her time being her owner’s sole company. She recently had surgery for thyroids disease in cats. Her owner, Mrs. Torres, considers Bee Wee her little girl. “It’s just her and I. I have no one else since my daughter is out in New York and my grandson is in Arizona. I have no other family so she is my world,” she said.
Mila May Willow is a three-month-old Siberian Husky that recently moved in with her owner Mikayla. Mila was one of the few that enjoyed the recent polar vortex, spending most of it outside digging dens in the snow to lay in. When she is not outside, she likes to play with her toy ducks. “She has a strange fascination for ducks and I don’t know why. She always looks for her duck when she is going to sleep and refuses to go without it,” Mikayla said.
Blissfield senior Mikayla Carter will be graduating CMU in May and pursuing her dream as a photographer. Her goal is to work in nature photography and wildlife. She has a special connection to animals being a farm girl and recently got her puppy Mila. “Mila reminds me of my dog, Raven, back home and the times I had with her as a puppy. They are more than just my pets, they are my family” she said.
Mila lays next to Mikayla while she does her homework on Wednesday, Jan. 30 in their home in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Mila loves to play at all times but knows to get serious when her “mom” is doing homework. “She is a good girl but she is a puppy and requires a lot of attention so those little moments she lets me do homework and is calm are so nice,” Mikayla said.
Senor Ducky Pants Jr. Supreme is a year and a half old Siamese cat who loves people. His favorite thing to do is lay in his bed on the table near the TV where he see the entire living room, specifically his owner Sylwia. “I know a lot of cats that hide when people have guests but Duck is just so loving. He loves being picked up and cuddled. He is pretty much perfect. We were going to get a dog when we found him and we just had to get him,” Sylwia said.
Chicago senior Sylwia Sutor is an accounting major at CMU. She goes to school part-time and is working her way through college with her boyfriend, Clayton. They hope to get a second cat soon and move into a house in Alma, Michigan to finish their last year of school. “We love Duck but when we move to a bigger space we want to get him a friend so he doesn’t feel so lonely when we are at school,” she said.
Duck keeps watch on his favorite place in the apartment while Sylwia Sutor plays Call of Duty on Friday, Jan. 25 in their home in Mount Pleasant, Mich. This is a typical night for them and Duck is always there when she plays. “I feel like he knows this is our thing. He doesn’t do this with Clayton as often but if I am playing, he is there kind of like he is rooting for me when I play. We do this just about every night so it might be a routine for him now,” she said.
Mars, or Marzipan, is a two-year-old cat who loves attention. She loves to lay just about anywhere, especially her cat tree. “She is so weird but she is friendly. She mainly just lounges around and is super lazy. If you giver her a speck of attention, though, she will not stop trying to get more,” her owner, Nathan, said.
Alpena junior Nathan Bauer is a Mathematics and Spanish major at CMU. He transferred to Central two years ago and moved in to an apartment in Mount Pleasant with his hometown friends. “We knew we had to get cats once we settled in. Now they are like our babies. I think we just gave them our anxiety though, but we all just spend our time being lazy together as a family,” he said.
Nathan Bauer and Mars relax on the couch on Feb. 1 in their home in Mount Pleasant, Mich. “She follows me most in the house because I give her all the cuddles. She loves attention so I always just spend my weekends laying with her” he said.
Archie is a two-year-old dachshund who spends his time running around after his owners and loves to play. There is never a day he is not willing to cheer Carlee and Kyle up. “He is the light of our lives. His little face makes everything better,” they said.
Springport senior Carlee Hoag and her boyfriend Kyle Engle consider themselves parents of Archie. Carlee is a theater major at CMU and Kyle is the guitarist and singer of the band Car Crash Rhetoric. They are both fully devoted to their art and try to involve Archie as much as possible. “We don’t even call him our dog. He is our boy,” she said.
Archie plays tug of war with his “mom” Carlee on Feb. 3 in their home in Mount Pleasant, Mich. His favorite time is when both his owners are home to play with him. “He knows we stress out and tries to help by begging us to play with him. We love him like he is our actual child,” Carlee said.
Pichirilo, better known as Pichi, recently turned ten years old and is still a loving and energetic dog. His favorite things are barking at everyone that passes by and eating hot dogs. He also loves napping on people’s laps and car rides. He is my grumpy old man and has been with me since sixth grade.
Pichi licks his snout after getting a piece of hot dog from his owner Lorena Patino. Patino hated dogs at first, but after they got Pichi, she softened her heart and now loves every dog she sees. “I grew up in a family that hated animals but I have come to realize they are better than us sometimes and care more about you than your actual family,” she said.
For this assignment I chose to practice my portraits. After taking JRN 420, I realized I enjoy making posed pictures of people and wanted to continue. However, I did not want to do just pictures of people. I originally thought of doing just pets but then I thought to instead show the bond that people share with their pets. With that in mind, I did three pictures for each photos shoot: the pet, the owner and a candid shot showing their environment or interaction. The goal was to show people and their pets as they are.
When thinking about how to approach this I remembered I love window light, so I made a point to avoid lighting my pictures with strobes and instead try to find the best natural light. I also wanted to explore my skills photographing animals. Not only was it challenging, it was frustrating sometimes because animals are unpredictable. I tried to do one of me and my dog but it was super challenging and I did not work out so I did the best picture of him for now, just for fun, and I will work on a self portrait in the future when I have access to better light at home.
Each photo shoot took me anywhere from two to three hours, if not more, depending on how much the pets cooperated. Some are definitely better than others but my goal is to continue this mini series and do some re-shoots. I also want to find more than just dogs and cats in the future for something like this. Overall, I had fun doing this and my biggest hope is to make the owners fall in love with their pets all over again with my pictures.
Maricruz Patino Photojournalism 