I conducted a brief photoshoot at a popular venue in Leeds, where lots of diverse characters socialise and don't necessarily conform to set trends. People were really happy to be photographed and everybody responded well to positive comments on their footwear. Where possible I asked everyone questions about the meaning of their shoes to them, and tried to converse to find out if that particular consumer item has impacts their identity.
I found that everybody willing to take part agreed that their shoes represented something about them, or was acting an an extension of their personality. This confirms the route of looking at shoes to represent object of consumerism, as every single person I asked/have asked in feedback all feel that shoes are a key aspect of who you are as an individual.
The project is not about judging or looking down on others for not having 'fancy footwear', but expressing the individuality and the stories these perticular aspects of consumerism can cary. I spoke to 4 people when taking photographs whom were all wearing Vegan Doc Martens; they said how they loved the shoes previously but since becoming Vegan didn't feel right to keep the aspects of leather or animal cruelty. They have since re-consumed and take comfort in knowing what they consume their shoes hold just as much integrity as their personal ethics.
These are the first images shot in conjunction with the proposed editorial. I wanted to keep the style of photography quite playful and candid to reflect a snapshot diary style, emphasised by the flash in many cases (taking influence from works by Mario Testino). The images didn't come out as well as I would have hoped but will nposses the desired aesthetic quality after being edited in Lightroom.
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