Cats in the Sun

Cats in the Sun is the product of Hans Silvester's three-year investment in photographing the cats of the Greek Cycladic Islands. Every picture captures the essence of the unspoiled Mediterranean landscape--sun-drenched villas, a sparkling sea, and shady olive groves. Dominating this exquisite panorama are hundreds of cats, respected--but not domesticated--by locals, happy to have the army of mouse-catchers nearby.

Definite classes of cat exist on the Cycladic Islands: there are the true rogue cats--scavenging for food, unkempt, with a missing piece of ear or two--and then there are the more privileged class members, regularly fed by Islanders and allowed the honor of a doorstep on which to perch (but still denied entrance into the home). The individualism of each cat is evident in every portrait--a mother nurturing her brood of kittens, a cat frolicking in the gentle swill of a wave, a cat peeping through a paint-peeled window frame. Cats in the Sun is an astonishing collection of photographs that captures the true spirit of the beloved feline.