Picture purrfect

Tim Flach's new book, Feline, is a remarkable collection of images that explore a wide range of cat species, our relationship with them and why we find them so cute. He talks to David Clark about the project

- By David Clark

As a nation, we love cats. There are around 11 million pet cats in the UK and there's at least one in almost a quarter of all households. Cat videos are a perennial favourite on social media channels. Yet the cats themselves are largely indifferent to us and generally do as they please. They are perhaps the most difficult domestic species to photograph. Undaunted, Tim Flach has chosen them as the subject for his latest monograph.

Tim's studio is located in an impressive but anonymous building on a main road running through London's Shoreditch. On shoot days, often involving animals and their owners, it's full of activity, but on the day I visit it's quiet and empty.

Tim, a youthful and energetic 67-year-old, greets me at the door and offers a coffee. But there's no instant stuff from a jar here.

'This is my favourite: organic coffee with lion's mane and chaga mushrooms,' he says, grinding the beans carefully. 'It's supposed to improve focus and memory.'

His meticulous, detail-oriented approach extends to everything he does, especially his busy and successful photography career that began in the early 1980s. Since then, his commercial work has included campaigns for a range of leading brands and organisations, while his personal work includes seven monographs on different animal species, including dogs, horses, endangered species and birds.

Tackling cats

When tackling the subject of cats, Tim says he thought carefully about his approach before starting. 'It's hard to think where to take the subject without falling into a degree of sentiment,' he says. 'Coming out with some dignity feels a major challenge with cats. I felt I needed to collaborate with scientists and create images that engage with the stories around the different images, to really go on a journey to unmask the essence of feline.'