Tiziana Valeriano’s Interview

For this exhibition, you’re presenting your ongoing reportage with I Mici del Parco della Chiusa. Can you tell us how this project started and why you chose to focus on these colonies?

I’ve always had a passion for photography, and when I happened to come across the free cats of Parco della Chiusa in 2021, it was a revelation: I immediately found my perfect subjects… So, first and foremost, it’s because my photographic journey (and my life as a “cat lady”) began with these cats!

With them, I embarked on a true path of observation and understanding of the feline world, which allowed me to explore what it means to be a cat in art, literature, and also ethologically. This helped me decipher their behaviours and movements through the lens of my camera.

For me, these cats are a sanctuary where I find comfort, wonder, and freedom. Living in a beautiful natural park, they are free to roam, but that freedom also exposes them to the unpredictable. Their world is a delicate balance between liberty and uncertainty.

Your images combine the intensity of nature photography with the authenticity of reportage. The cats you photograph are free and can be wary, difficult to approach. How have you learned to photograph them without compromising their freedom, and even highlighting it?

I don’t like to force anything, and I love “cats being cats,” so I prefer to respect the distance each cat chooses to keep, even if that can sometimes be frustrating. Usually, I wait patiently and silently for them to emerge from their hiding spot or to feel comfortable enough to approach me on their own terms. When our eyes meet… It’s pure magic!

You’ve called cats “life masters.” Is there something in particular they’ve taught you?

Yes. As Merrit Malloy says, “cats teach us how to live.” Thanks to them, I have rediscovered my instinctive and intuitive side, learning to trust what I call my “stray soul”: the untamed, un-domesticable part of myself that we often neglect. Unfortunately, we live in an alienating society that distances us from ourselves, from that authentic inner core where true wisdom resides. Cats are a tangible example of what it means to live in harmony with the outside world while remaining true to one’s inner nature. That’s their great life lesson.

You describe the park’s cats as “magical apparitions in an enchanted forest.” Is there a particular moment or shot that embodies this magic for you?

I’ve experienced many magical moments, but the most poetic and enchanting shot that still fills me with indescribable emotion is of a mother cat with her two kittens. One November afternoon, while walking without expectations, this intimate, tender scene suddenly appeared before my eyes: a mother cat relaxing with her kittens, surrounded by autumn foliage… I held my breath for fear they would run away!

Is there a cat in the sanctuary with whom you’ve formed a particularly special bond?

I love them all, but I must confess I had a unique connection with two cats who unfortunately disappeared suddenly, breaking my heart into a thousand pieces and perhaps teaching me how to process the loss of our beloved felines.

Their names were Titti and Zigulì, and they continue to live in my heart, and as invisible presences in the places they once belonged to.

I like to think of them as my silent soul companions, because that’s what cats are, after all.

Photography is always a choice. Is there a particular feline quality or gesture you love to capture in your shots?

I love capturing cats’ beauty, elegance, and sense of freedom, as well as their proud, contemplative gazes… eyes in which I find silence and serenity. As Bukowski says, “the free soul is rare, but you know it when you see it – basically because you feel good, very good, when you are near or with them.”

Are there artists, photographers, or even non-artistic influences that have shaped your style?

Certainly, Walter Chandoha is a cornerstone in cat photography, and I’m a big fan of Marcel Heijnen’s photographic style. Conceptually, I found great resonance in the book Ogni Gatto è Illuminato by Yoshitaka Masumi and Laura De Tomasi, where images and words portray cats through a mix of photography and philosophy, presenting them as little teachers of wisdom, living fully in the here and now, whose observation brings us closer to our true essence.

Is there an anecdote about cats from your personal life or photographic work that you’d like to share?

I adopted two cats from the park: the first, Mia, a 2-3 month-old tabby stuck in the crevice of a ruin, who after a scary ordeal was rescued by the fire brigade; and León, who I fell in love with while photographing him as a very young kitten.

What is your earliest memory of a cat?

My Romeo, a stray kitten who only lived one year. Found hungry and skeletal after a storm, he came into my life by chance in the summer of 2020. He changed my life with his presence and his sudden loss. It is thanks to him that I began this immersive experience in the world of cats “belonging to everyone and no one,” a human and photographic adventure that continues to nourish my soul.