Photo of Stray Cat That Looks Like 'Museum Exhibit' Baffles Internet

A striking image captured by Wisconsin-based photographer Ross Harried has baffled the internet after the photograph's subject, a stray cat, appeared to look like a museum exhibit in the final shot.

The intriguing photograph had been taken on Harried's DSLR camera trap and has received plenty of praise online after being circulated under the photographer's social-media username, @SecondCropCreative.

"Compositionally, I couldn't have composed the image or animal better myself. I about pooped my pants when I pulled the card out and instantly texted my wife, 'I have award-winning shots, no joke.' These photos went way above my expectations," said Harried.

Harried told Newsweek that, while he was growing up on a dairy farm, he developed his interest in photography at high school, where there was a darkroom, as well as photography courses.

"I like all types of photography, but for this particular shot, I custom-built a DSLR camera trap, and have deployed it only a handful of times. It takes a lot of time to scout and track my subjects. The build consists of an old Canon T3i with an 18-55 (mm) kit lens I bought secondhand for $50. The flashes are two Nikon SB-24s, which I picked up on eBay for $20 to $30," he added.

Harried went on to explain that the "operation" was able to run smoothly because of sensor and trigger receivers in his setup, which prompt his camera to take shots when a subject is nearby that activates the sensor.

Harried added: "I am using all Camtraptions gear. I have everything housed in custom-built, weatherproof cases from Pelican cases and cheaper knock-off brands for the flashes.

"Everything runs off rechargeable AA batteries and, in normal temperatures, it can be left in the wild for up to a month at a time. The setup only lasts at most five days in the winter when the temperatures dip below freezing in Wisconsin."

After Harried posted the impressive capture on Reddit with the caption, "I caught a pretty stray cat in my DSLR camera trap," it garnered more than 800 comments.

"This is a magical photo," one Reddit user commented, while another added: "This is incredible. I've never wanted to be a photographer more than right now."

Harried responded to one comment: "A setup like this is very reasonable. The camera and lens total cost was $50. The gear to trigger everything was maybe $300-$350 and another $40-$50 in flashes."

After developing his camera trap in 2022, Harried had been hoping to capture a fox after tracking a handful of the animals in the area and was taken by surprise when he spotted the cat on his camera roll.

"This stray cat just showed up, along with a rabbit, possum, and raccoon," Harried said.

The photographer's entire setup is wireless and motion-activated with a passive infrared sensor, which can detect not just surrounding movement but also changes in the temperature.

"That then signals the camera and flashes to 'wake up' from their standby mode and fire off two rounds of three-image bursts," Harried added.

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Update 1/18/23, 4:10 a.m. EST: This article was updated with an enlarged photo.