olympia, washington. kentmere 400. rodinal 1:25. september 7.

Whenever I see a cat (Felis catus), I sit on the curb and see if it will come to me.

This cat did. After a few caresses, I got up to leave to continue to photograph.

As I walked away, I found I had a follower. I turned and walked him back to the front of the home, where I found him. I gestured to him to stay where he was, forgetting that a cat is not a dog.

As I walked away again, I saw the cat would not be persuaded. He wanted to come along. He wanted to become a part of the bigger world around him. I told him my life was not very big. I live in a small place, on a small street, in a somewhat small town.

I picked him up and walked back to the house. He at first thought I was showing more affection but realized as I went up the steps and knocked on the door that perhaps he had misread my intentions. It is tough to be betrayed.

It was 8 a.m. On the third series of knocks, the door opened. A young man in sleeping attire appeared. I presented to him the issue and gave him the cat. He put the cat down on the porch and started closing the door. I said stop; you must take the cat inside, or he will follow me again. He picked up the cat, rolled his eyes and closed the door. He never said a word.

These images were created with the Nikon N8008s, with the Voigtlander Ultron 40mm 1:2 lens attached. I developed the roll of Kentmere 400 in Rodinal (1:25) for 7 minutes, 30 seconds, at 20 degrees Celsius, agitating ten seconds every minute. The negatives were scanned with the PrimeFilmXEs, using VueScan software.