Cover Dutch photographer Marcel Heijen has been photographing Hong Kong’s shop cats since 2016. Some of his most adorable cat pictures can be seen in his book ’Shop Cats of Hong Kong’. (Photo: Marcel Heijnen / @chinesewhiskers / Instagram)
Dutch photographer Marcel Heijen has been photographing Hong Kong’s shop cats since 2016. Some of his most adorable cat pictures can be seen in his book ’Shop Cats of Hong Kong’. (Photo: Marcel Heijnen / @chinesewhiskers / Instagram)
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Dutch photographer Marcus Heijnen has made a career out of photographing the world’s most charming subjects. But these aren’t your everyday cat pictures—they’re a window into a uniquely Asian way of life
They nap next to the cash register, stare down customers from the tops of rice sacks and occasionally swipe at a dangling price tag just because they can. In the lively labyrinths of Asia’s markets and alleyway stores, shop cats reign supreme—and no one captures their effortless charisma better than Dutch photographer Marcel Heijnen.
These are not your average cat pictures. Heijnen’s images, seen on his Instagram account @chinesewhiskers, have been compiled in the photo books Shop Cats of Hong Kong and Shop Cats of China. The images don’t just serve feline charm; they also offer a heartfelt tribute to the quirky rhythm of daily life in Asia’s small businesses. In places like Hong Kong, feline residents are more than pets—they’re mascots, guardians and lucky charms, seen lounging on the products or side-eyeing the customers like the su-purr-visors that they are.
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In his photos, Heijnen introduces us to a cast of four-legged scene-stealers: one guarding a candy shop display, another inviting customers in to check out the grocer’s lap cheong. The backgrounds are gloriously chaotic: worn tiles, neon-coloured tags, products stacked with the precision of Jenga blocks. In the midst of all this, the cats all seem utterly unbothered.
The result is equal parts pet photography and cultural documentary, cat pictures that are also time capsules capturing traditional Asian shophouses and the street life around them. Through Heijnen’s lens, these riotous scenes turn into visual haiku, the chaos frozen into quiet moments. And there are also literal haiku in the book—from writer Ian Row, who imagines the photographic subjects’s inner monologues.
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After the success of ‘Shop Cats of Hong Kong’, Heijnen published a follow-up called ‘Shop Cats of China’; later this year, he is set to release ‘City Cats of Istanbul’. (Photo: Marcel Heijnen / @chinesewhiskers / Instagram)
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And because the world absolutely needs more books of cat pictures, up next is City Cats of Istanbul, coming in September 2025, where Heijnen travels to the feline hotspot that is Turkiye. Istanbul’s street cats are practically royalty—there’s even a statue of one. Naturally, Heijnen’s ready to train his lens on them too, bringing his signature mix of painterly composition and the feline portraiture to the Turkish capital. (In case anyone wonders whether Heijnen is monomaniacally focused on just this species, note that his bibliography includes 2018’s Hong Kong Garage Dogs.)
Sure, cat pictures are no new thing, especially on the Internet, but what sets Heijnen’s work apart is his ability to capture the soul of a scene: the unspoken rapport between human and animal, the stillness within the clutter, the personality behind every paw. His images are less about cats and more about coexistence—how life, business and affection quietly intersect in Asia’s shopfronts.
Kristine Fonacier is a widely published journalist and author, covering lifestyle, business, politics and travel, having been the editor in chief at the Philippine editions of Esquire and Entrepreneur, and the founding editor of Grid magazine. At Tatler, she was previously the regional editor for T-Labs, Power & Purpose and Asia’s Most Influential.
