Is it real or is it photoshop?

These days we sometimes wonder if the photographs on the postcards and cards we sell are real. We sell lots of cards with animal subjects and there is a definite trend of manipulating image; it's so easy to put a cat on a bicycle, or two disparate creatures snuggled up together etc. etc. On the other hand, there are some real and amazing photos of just that kind of thing out there. Currently we have one I love: a Buddhist monk sitting on the floor holding a small red hoop over his head. A cat is leaping through it, as several other cats watch and/or ignore this amazing feat. Of course those of us with cats wondered if it could be a real photo. . . I don't imagine my cat jumping through any hoops anytime soon. But yesterday a customer brought that postcard up to the desk. "I was there," she said. "Years ago. I'd forgotten all about it until I saw this." "There" turned out to be Inle Lake in Burma where there is a monastery informally known as the "jumping cat monastery." When the monks need a break from their spiritual practise, they practise a - much more difficult art. If you google "Inle Lake monks cats hoops" you can read all about it. And I believe I saw a YouTube video . . .