Portrait : Rémi and Bébé12

Rémi Ferrante, 32, Director @blastmagazine and Photographer.

– Who is she? 

– Who is she?

She’s called B12. I’m not the type of person who thinks you should name a cat. You would never call a cat… By the way, have you ever seen a cat answer the phone?
They are far too snobbish for that. She is a Scottish Fold, it is one of the only breeds of cats apparently born of a genetic mutation, ie in the laboratory. I immediately liked the idea that she is a product of science and of the street.

– Can you tell us about your first meeting?

When we met I was in Istanbul, I stayed at a hotel during the Contemporary Art Fair in 2013. I had some spare time, and I had seen many cats in the streets, more or less in shape, but often in a pack.
I asked the hotel reception if it was safe to adopt one of these street cats and if they would eventually agree to share the comfort of a Parisian apartment with me.
The girl at the front desk referred me to a vet near the center of Istanbul. This man used to take care of abandonned cats.
On site everything went pretty fast. B12 had a rather taciturn sister, while her, she was trying to climb on impossible things. I immediately said “she must have a good sense of humor”. This is an important quality for a cat!
– What’s her best quality?

Humor I think. I learned recently the mystery about cats, it is that they think that all beings are cats, inferior to them obviously. So for cats we are just fat cats.

– Does she have a nickname and if so, why?

B12 was for MENU B12; a menu that I like to order at the Japanese restaurant I usually go to. Then there was the diminutive, B12 and sometimes when she is very nice it’s Bébé12.

– What does her presence bring you on a daily basis? 

She’s very mischievous at home, not that it is a disaster… She sometimes looks like she doesn’t know what she is doing there, that touches me a lot. Her way of moving is very funny too, she makes me laugh. Finally, I am convinced that B12 has some humor. That’s for sure !

– Which rescue did you go through to find her? 

I got her through a veterinarian in the suburbs of Istanbul, his house was adjoining his study, and his daughters were rescuing abandoned street cats.

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