You start to notice them once you slow down.
This series comes from time spent walking in Pekanbaru, part of my broader Indonesia collection. These small moments sit within my Street Photography work — the quieter details that exist alongside everyday life.
On the edges of streets, near drains, under food stalls — cats are everywhere in Pekanbaru. Not owned, not entirely wild either. Just part of the place.
Some sit quietly, watching everything that passes. Alert, but calm. As if they’ve learned the rhythm of the street better than anyone.
Others seem completely at ease. Stretching out on warm concrete, unbothered by noise, people, or movement around them.
Then there are the younger ones. Curious, cautious, still learning. Every corner is new, every sound worth noticing.
They stay close together at first. Safety in numbers, before the street slowly teaches them independence.
There’s something in their eyes — not fear, not comfort. Just awareness. A constant reading of the world around them.
Many stay close to food stalls and homes, moving in and out of human spaces without ever fully belonging to them. These are the quieter layers of street life across Indonesia — often unnoticed, but always present.
In cities like Pekanbaru, street cats are part of everyday life. They survive on what’s available — scraps, instinct, and adaptability. It’s estimated that urban areas across Indonesia support large free-roaming cat populations, living alongside people in a quiet, unspoken coexistence.
You don’t notice them at first. But once you do, you realise they’ve always been there — watching, waiting, and moving through the same streets we pass every day.
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