Beyond the frame

There are plenty of websites in which animal shelter strays are hoisted by the scruff by gloved hands, looking distressed, miserable or, at the very least, uncomfortable.

It’s a sharp contrast to the volunteer work Sue Anderson does every week at the Butte Humane Society’s Cat Adoption Center.

After prepping her photography studio tucked into the corner of an office on Saturday (June 23), Anderson called out in a sweet voice to a curious kitten: “Hey, Kaya, do you want your picture taken?”

The little black-and-white kitten replied with a tentative, squeaky meow. Anderson took her out of a cage, placing her gently on a stainless steel table fitted with a white paper sheet and festive Fourth of July accoutrements. Then, she pulled out her “secret” tool—a wand with red, white and blue crinkly metallic strips.

“It gets their attention, and then I can also use it to wrangle,” she explained.

“Doot, doot, doot!” she called out, lightly shaking the wand. Kaya stared intently, straight ahead. Click, click! Anderson snapped a few photographs, then asked the kitten about switching up the décor—“What do you think, boo-boo?” A few more photos and Kaya was back in her cage, meowing for attention.

Anderson has spent about 300 hours per year for eight years as the local humane society’s cat photographer. For that recent shoot, she was just getting started: summer is peak cat adoption season, so she had about 19 more felines to go. Last year alone, she photographed 700 cats, many of which are featured on a stunning collage she gifted to BHS that hangs on the wall a few feet away from her studio.

“That’s a lot of animals that are living in people’s homes and enriching their lives and making them happy,” she reflected. “I’m really proud of that, that we were able to successfully adopt these animals and they’re happy and their owners are happy and they’re living their best life.”

Anderson started volunteering with Butte Humane Society nine years ago, working in many areas, from adoption counseling to cleanup. (Since then, she’s logged more than 2,500 hours.) All of her cats—Tommy B, Chip, Shadow, Lynus and Scout—came from BHS.

“It was funny because when I first started, I adopted like four cats within nine months,” Anderson added with a chuckle. “I was what they call a ‘failed foster’; I fostered them and then I kept them!”

Once Anderson heard of BHS’ desire to find someone to take pet portraits, she invested in an entry-level camera and began teaching herself, enrolling in online courses and upgrading and buying her own equipment. Her own business, Black Cat Photography, evolved out of her volunteer work.

BHS Adoption Supervisor Shelby Waugh has worked with Anderson for about two years, and said she’s friendly and extremely valuable to the organization. She’s a perfectionist who dedicates most of her Saturdays to the shelter, Waugh said, and has exhibited patience, care and creativity. It’s not easy to work with such fiercely independent creatures, and Anderson often retakes photos to show the felines in their best light, or meets them where they are most comfortable to minimize their stress.

“When a cat does have a professional photo of hers as opposed to not having a photo at all, it is tremendous,” Waugh said. “We almost always get an application for adoption.”

Anderson’s full-time gig is with Chico State’s Alumni and Parent Engagement Department, where she’s spent 20 years and is currently assistant vice president. She’ll continue to photograph BHS cats, as well as enjoy fleshing out her business, after she retires in August.

Among her plans is to work on “joy photography,” snapping photos of older or sick animals with their owners as keepsakes. The inspiration for that work is a dalmatian named Nicki that she adopted after her owner became terminally ill. The 7-year-old became a beloved family companion and lived for another seven years.

“I think I have one photograph where we dressed my daughter up as a dalmatian and went to, like, Picture This in the mall and they took a picture, but I don’t have any [other] photographs of her. And it breaks my heart.

“I just think it’s really important to have a great photograph of you and your pet. Because how many people take pictures of their pet with their cellphone or take a selfie? You’re not going to print those,” she continued. “I want to be able to provide art for people so that they have really good, lasting memories.”

Anderson is also a professional artist with HeARTs Speak, an international animal advocacy nonprofit that enlists artists to increase the visibility of shelter animals. She’s part of a volunteer registry—recently, she traveled to Redding’s California Shar-Pei Rescue to take photos of their dogs.

Anderson said people ask to adopt animals they’ve noticed on the BHS website all the time. “It’s just so great to see people come in and be able to pick out a member of their family,” she said.

Plus, the work is fun.

“Nine years and I’m still not tired of [volunteering]. I look forward to it every week.”