Upside-Down Sleeper Photo Series
Hi, I’m Azmi from Meknes! My rabbit sleeps in odd poses, so I named them like yoga moves. Below: the four poses of the collection, each with its time, its spot, and the proof-of-comfort photo taken the next day in the same spot. I never move him, just photograph quietly without flash. This is a photo series, not behavior advice, for sudden sleep changes with appetite loss I call a vet. Here: the poses.
Pose 1, Side Flop (the classic)
On the side, legs out, usually the cool tile by the door, 19:00 to 21:00. Ten logged in a month. Comfort proof: chosen again the next evening 8 of 10 times, I photograph the empty spot at 18:00 and the occupied flop at 19:20, same angle, before-and-after pair. Caption style fixed: date-time-spot, e.g. 04-11-1920-tile. Friends ask if it is comfortable, I just show the next photo where he chooses the same spot again. That re-choosing is the entire answer and it needs no words.
Pose 2, Loaf Tilt (the lean)
Upright loaf leaning 20 degrees against the cushion edge, chin resting on the roll. Rug spot, afternoons 14:00 to 16:00, six logged. The tilt deepens over the session, first photo upright, second photo 20 minutes later leaning further. I take both without approaching, zoom by cropping later. Warm-afternoon pose: 5 of 6 on days above 25 degrees. Time, spot, caption, that is the series method for every pose, and the tilt pair (before/after lean) is my favorite two-frame story.
Pose 3, Full Twist (the pretzel)
Front half loaf, back half flopped sideways, the twist that makes visitors gasp. Cushion corner, warm afternoons only, four logged. My log shows twists happen on warm afternoons on the cool tile edge where two surfaces meet, tile plus cushion, the body bridging both. First sighting I hovered worried for a full minute; he woke, stretched, flopped back into it. Now the rule: photograph once, walk away, check in 30 minutes. All four twists were still going at the 30-minute check. The twist photo from April 9th is my phone wallpaper, head up alert, body melted, contradiction in one frame.
Pose 4, Upside Twist (the namesake)
On the back edge against the cushion, belly half-up, head lolled, never fully upside down, always braced. Two logged, rarest pose, both on the hottest afternoons of the month (29 and 31 degrees). Sessions: 25 and 40 minutes, ended by self-waking both times. I keep the room quiet during these, no entering, photo through the doorway. The series now holds 22 pose photos across four named moves, each captioned identically, each re-chosen at least once. That re-choosing table (pose, times seen, times re-chosen next day) is the back page of this post’s sheet: flop 10/8, tilt 6/5, twist 4/4, upside 2/1. New poses get names only after three sightings, current candidate: the hallway sphinx, seen twice. Naming ceremony pending.
Pose photos mine, taken quietly without waking the sleeper. Not vet advice. Sleep-position notes only.
Pose 5, Hallway Sphinx (naming ceremony)
Third sighting logged April 28th, so the candidate graduates: upright sit in the hallway mouth, front paws aligned, ears together, facing the front door like guarding it. Sightings one and two were dismissed as transits; sighting three held 12 minutes, photographed twice, named on the spot. The naming ceremony is one line in the sheet with a star, previous ceremonies: twist (March 30), upside (April 12). Seasonal chart from the full collection: twists and upside cluster on warm afternoons (all 6 above 25 degrees), flops dominate evenings regardless of weather (10 of 10 between 19:00-21:00), tilts own the midday. Photo ethics I keep: no flash ever (two early white-eye frames deleted), no waking (three near-poses lost to my floorboard creak, logged as ghosts), doorway shooting for the rare ones. The series target is twelve named poses by autumn; at four named plus one candidate, winter will need creativity, or acceptance that four poses is plenty. Either way the caption format holds: date-time-spot, re-choosing noted, next photo promised.
Visitor’s guide to the collection, for the friends who ask to see poses live: come at 19:10, sit on the floor (the chair changes sightlines and he notices), stay quiet through the first flop, photography by patience, never by arrangement. Three visitors have now witnessed twists in person; two gasped audibly and were forgiven. The collection’s quiet thesis, if a photo series can have one: comfort repeats itself. Every pose that recurs is a vote for its spot, and my tile tally (flop corner chosen 8 of 10 evenings) is comfort counted. New candidates watched: the windowsill loaf (once, sunbeam, glorious, unrepeated), the tunnel snooze (twice, dark, unphotographable). The series grows at the speed of naps, slowly, then all at once on a warm afternoon.
Collection status: four named, one sphinxed, two ghosts. Naps permitting, more to come.
Poses logged, comfort proven.
Series continues.
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