Low-Fi Cats returns to the cats living around Mark Steinmetz’s neighborhood in Athens, Georgia. Familiar animals occupy driveways, gardens, porches and the spaces beneath bicycles. Their movements give ordinary surroundings a different scale: a patch of ground becomes a place to wait, while a bench or doorway becomes a vantage point. Published in connection with Steinmetz’s spring 2026 exhibition at Photo Gallery International in Tokyo, the book brings previously published and unpublished photographs together in a compact sequence.
Steinmetz approaches these encounters through small gestures and relationships within the frame. Several cats share a yard without becoming a single, orderly group; elsewhere, one animal is isolated against foliage or caught crossing close to the camera. The photographs invite attention to posture, distance and the play of light across fur and surrounding surfaces. Humor emerges from these arrangements without needing a caption to explain it. Looking at the cats also means looking at the human environments through which they move.
The black-and-white photographs appear in a 32-page hardcover published by Nazraeli Press in 2026. Special matte art paper and silkscreen-printed boards give the small volume a distinct physical character. The first edition comprises 500 numbered copies. In the publisher’s preview, full photographic spreads alternate with compositions that leave a facing page open. These changes of scale and spacing allow an individual encounter to hold the reader’s attention before the next image arrives.
For a reader following Steinmetz’s work, this book offers a focused encounter with his observation of everyday life. Its subject is narrow, but the cats continually redirect attention toward different textures, gestures and relationships. The recurring neighborhood setting makes the sequence feel connected without turning it into a single narrated event. As a book, its interest lies in that sustained attention and in the relationship between photographic timing, page design and the unhurried act of looking.
