Cat Watching a Spider

Cat portraits by Edward Weston

**Edward H. Weston ~** Johnny [tortoise-shell cat on driftwood, plywood backdrop], 1944 or 1945 | src Sotheby’s & CCP

**Edward H. Weston ~** Franky [cat in basket, right paw dangling downward], 1945 | src CCP ~ Univ. of Arizona

**Edward H. Weston ~** Franky (?) [tabby cat lying in basket], 1945 | src CCP ~ Univ. of Arizona

**Edward H. Weston ~** Franky [tabby cat lying on rough dark surface] 1945 | src CCP ~ Univ. of Arizona

**Edward H. Weston ~** Mary [kitten on clock], 1945 | src CCP ~ University of Arizona

**Edward H. Weston ~** Marco Polo [cat on stool], 1944 | src CCP ~ Univ. of Arizona

**Edward H. Weston ~** Jasmine and Marco Polo [two cats on driftwood], 1944 | src CCP ~ Univ. of Arizona

**Edward H. Weston ~** Hank [tabby cat perched with front feet on edge of wheelbarrow, looking upward], 1945 | src CCP

**Edward H. Weston ~** Jo-Jo and picture frame [cat in picture frame below large-leafed shrub, smaller foliage below], 1945 | src CCP

Of Platypus and other species

**Henry James Burrell** (1873-1945) ~ Young Platypus, ca. 1914. Glass negative | src Australian museum

**Henry James Burrell** (1873-1945) ~ Young Platypus, ca. 1914. Glass negative | src Australian museum blog

Harry J. Burrell developed an interest in natural history after he settled in Manilla, northern NSW with his wife Susan Emily Naegueli in 1901. As a naturalist, Burrell is most famous for being the first person to successfully keep platypuses in captivity. To do this he invented the ‘platypusary’, a storage tank which enabled him to both study and exhibit live platypuses. The platypusary was used for the first time in 1910 to show live platypuses at the Moore Park Zoo in Sydney. In 1922 he assisted Ellis Stanley Joseph with successfully transporting the first ever live platypus beyond Australian shores. The sole surviving platypus of the original 5 platypuses’ arduous journey died within a few weeks of being exhibited at the Bronx Zoo, New York.

**Henry James Burrell** (1873-1945) ~ Echidna rolled up. Glass negative | src Australian museum

**Henry James Burrell** (1873-1945) ~ Green snake eating a frog. Glass negative | src Australian museum

Nature photography (1939)

Cecropia (male and female) · Cecropia moths on end of stick. Acadia National Park, Maine, 22 March, 1939 | src NPG

Cecropia moth on end of stick. Acadia National Park, Maine, 22 March, 1939 | src National Park gallery

Reflection of Pemetic Mt. in Eagle lake. Acadia National Park, Maine, 5 June, 1939 | src National Park gallery

Kingfisher · Bird on stick. Acadia National Park, Maine, 18 July, 1939 | src National Parks gallery

Buttercup, close-up (five pedaled flower). Acadia National Park, Maine, 13 June, 1939 | src National Parks gallery

Animal pictures

**Friedrich Seidenstücker ~** A woman feeding a tame red deer in Klampenborg Zoo (Copenhagen), 1934 | src getty images

Deers in the snow by Lambert

**Harold M. Lambert ~** Three deer laying down in snowy forest in Winter, 1940 | src getty images

The pet koala · 1890s

Pet koala owned by the Davey family, Terranora Lakes eating out of a spoon and cup. ca. 1890. Photo: F. J. Davey. | src Tweed Regional Museum

Pet koala (sitting on a chair) owned by the Davey family, ca. 1890. Photo F. J. Davey | src Tweed Regional Museum

Hilja Raviniemi radiographs

**Hilja Raviniemi ~** Untitled (Flowers), 1960s. Collection of the Finnish Museum of Fine Arts | src Valokuvamuseo · IG

**Hilja Raviniemi ~** Shell design, 1970. Suomen valokuvataiteen museon kokoelma. | src Fall 2023 exhibition

Hilja Raviniemi (née Nieminen, 1915–1973) dedicated her life to art photography at a time when it was still a niche phenomenon in Finland. The art photography scenes consisted of amateur photographers’ clubs’ regional and international exhibitions. Letters from international exhibitions addressed to “Mr. Hilja Raviniemi” show that photographers were assumed to be men. Hard work helped “Hili” rise to the top of the male-dominated world of amateur photographers’ clubs. She was the first woman to become chair of the Association of Finnish Camera Clubs, and she was awarded the international honEFIAP title, which was only allowed to be simultaneously carried by a select few photographers in the world.

After her more traditional early work, Raviniemi explored the infinite creative possibilities offered by the darkroom, especially in the 1960s. Her recognizable blue era, which differed from the stark black-and-white art photography of the time, began in the late 1960s. Chemist by profession, Raviniemi was an ingenious artist in the darkroom. In addition to blue-tinted prints, she also created completely abstract photographic artworks using different techniques. Raviniemi’s workplace at the University of Helsinki photography department laboratory also allowed her to make the first artistic radiographic images in Finland. Hundreds of Raviniemi’s radiographic works have been preserved and make up an exceptional ensemble of works in the history of Finnish art photography. In the current exhibition, carefully constructed exhibition prints are accompanied by experimental material that grants us a glimpse of Raviniemi’s curious personality and sense of humor, along with eccentric pictures of cats.

Hilja’s husband, chemist Eero Raviniemi (1911–1996) was also an accomplished photographer and pioneer of color photography in Finland. After Eero’s death, the Raviniemi family’s photography collection was donated to the Finnish Museum of Photography.

quoted from: Hilja Raviniemi: Sinisen kosketus (A Touch of Blue). Fall 2023 exhibition at the Finnish Museum of Photography (link)