Bela Borsodi

Bela Borsodi is an Austrian still life photographer based in New York City.

Bela Borsodi was born in Vienna and has lived and worked in New York City since the early 1990s. He studied fine art and graphic design with a great interest in psychology but often incorporated photography  in his projects. When his friends started working at magazines and asked him to take photographs for them, Borsodi became more interested in photography. This led to an early career as a photographer where he shot portraits, reportage, and some fashion for editorials in Austria and Germany.

Through combining aspects of fine art, graphic design, craft, and psychology, his work offers a surreal imagery that makes clothing and accessories 3-dimensional.

Borsodi’s work has appeared in publications such as V magazine, vogue, wallpaper magazine, and Another magazine. ME

Federico Mauro

Federico Mauro is an Italian multimeadia designer and art director. He’s commited himself to video, photography and making short films which he entered into national competitions and won. He’s worked for clients such as Universal Studios and Netflix. His best known photographs are a series of images called ‘Famous Shoes’ which are shoes worn by famous people such as Michael Jackson and famous fictional characters such as Wonder Woman and Cinderella. They’re all shot and presented the same way, the only difference being the shoe and the name of the person/character underneath. He has other, less well known, series similar called ‘Famous Blades’, ‘Famous Guitars’ and ‘Famous Guns’.Katie Graham

Slippers

It is thought that slippers were originally from the East but they have been worn by every culture.  The earliest recorded reference to the slipper was is in the 12^th Century by a Southern Song Dynasty Officer where he describes two types of slipper he saw in what is now Vietnam.  These slippers had a thong to fit between the toes or a leather strap across the foot and the outsoles would have been made of leather.  In the West, slippers were first recorded around 1478.

In certain cultures, such as Japan, it is a social obligation to remove shoes and wear slippers when entering a place of residence. This is due to tradition and respect for the house.

The Japanese also have toilet slippers, which you put on before you enter the toilet and you slip off after you leave so you must leave the toilet as you entered as the slippers are meant to face the toilet!

The Victorian era, saw the “Prince Albert Slipper”, so called after Queen Victoria’s husband Prince Albert.  These shoes were a velvet slipper with a quilted silk lining and leather outsole.  They were first worn by English aristocracy when Black tie dress for dinner was required by standards of etiquette and they would don velvet smoking jackets with a cravat and coordinating Prince Albert slippers.  Eventually, this custom moved outside the home to clubs and smoking rooms.  Nowadays, these slippers are known as “Smoking Slippers” and are worn by both men and women, sometimes worn informally outside.

Today, slippers come in many styles, Slip-On Slippers, Boot Slippers, Novelty Slippers and Moccasin Slippers.  They can be made from different types of materials from leather, suede, wool to manmade materials with outsoles being made from again a variety of different materials like leather, rubber or EVA.

Today, slippers come in many styles, Slip-On Slippers, Boot Slippers, Novelty Slippers and Moccasin Slippers.  They can be made from different types of materials from leather, suede, wool to manmade materials with outsoles being made from again a variety of different materials like leather, rubber or EVA.

Today, slippers come in many styles, Slip-On Slippers, Boot Slippers, Novelty Slippers and Moccasin Slippers.  They can be made from different types of materials from leather, suede, wool to manmade materials with outsoles being made from again a variety of different materials like leather, rubber or EVA.

lucy

All Star “Chuck Taylor” -Neave

It was in 1908 that the Converse Rubber Corporation opened for business. At first the company only made galoshes and other work related rubber shoes on a seasonal basis. But eventually the company decided it was more efficient to keep their work force employed year round, and began making athletic shoes. With the popularity of basketball, the Converse Corporation saw the need to develop a shoe that people could wear while playing basketball. After lots of research and development, the very first version of the All Star basketball shoe was produced in 1917. The All Star shoe originally came in natural brown colours with black trim. In the 1920s, Converse All Stars were made in all black canvas or leather versions. The All Star was to be the first mass produced basketball shoe in North America. It consisted of a very thick rubber sole, and a ankle covering canvas (or sometimes leather) upper. At first sales were slow. They would rapidly increase a few years later, thanks to Charles ‘Chuck’ H. Taylor.

Charles H. Taylor was a basketball player for the Akron Firestones. He liked what he saw in the All Star shoe and saw its potential for the sport of basketball As a matter of fact, he believed in the shoe so much that in 1921 he joined the Converse sales force, and later became the player/coach for the Converse All-Stars, the company’s industrial league basketball.

 

The Flip Flop – Issy Knight

It’s one of the most basic items in your closet, but it has a long history. The name “flip flop” comes specifically from the sound the sandals make when they slap between the sole of your foot and the floor.

This particular type of sandal originated as early as the Ancient Egyptians in 4000 BC, and the oldest known pair is on display at the British Museum from 1500 BC. This pair is made from papyrus, but just as a huge variety of cultures have worn these sandals through the years, they’ve used a great variety of materials.

Papyrus and palm leaves were the most common materials used in Ancient Egypt, while rawhide was the material of choice among the Masai of Africa. In India, these sandals were mostly made with wood, and many used rice straw in China and Japan. Of course, in modern times, most cultures have moved to leather, rubber and other sturdier textiles.

What we know of as the modern flip flop gained popularity in the United States after the end of World War II. They are derived from the Japanese zōri, which soldiers brought back to the States with them.

Havaianas, a classic and well-known brand, was created in 1962 in Brazil by the country’s largest footwear brand Alpargatas. By 2010, more than 150 million pairs of the sandals were being produced per year. Rainbow Sandals — a favourite for many — were created in a garage in Laguna Beach, CA during the early 1970s, and have become well known as a dependable pair that doesn’t wear down easily. They are now offered in a variety of styles, and the company produces over 2 million pairs every year.

Flip flops are a popular choice among people of all ages, typically worn in casual settings. Younger generations tend to feel it’s okay to wear them to formal events, while older generations reportedly feel this is a sign of laziness and choosing comfort over style. We have to agree that basic flops shouldn’t be worn to fancy events, but we’ve seen some pretty stylish (and bedazzled) styles that can definitely be considered “dressed up”. During the post-war boom, Americans started to design flip flops in new bright colours and patterns, wearing them for their convenience and comfort. In the 1960s, they became primarily known as a part of the casual beach lifestyle of California.

 

Harry Winston Ruby Slippers- Price Tag $ 3 million

 This pair is actually the official replica of the pair of red magic shoes of Dorothy of Wizard of Oz. but his one had to be different from all its contemporaries and competitors. It boasts of total 4,600 pieces of rubies and worth 50 carats of diamonds and was made on the honorable occasion of the 50th anniversary of the cult movie. This shoe took 2 months of pain and extreme hard work and was finally created to be the most expensive pair of shoes in the world. I personally like this one more than the original version and every other version.g

  

Mark Schwarts – Louise

Mark Schwartrs is an accomplished shoe designer. He has been in the art industry for over twenty years. In the mid-1980s he worked for Roger Vivier, a groundbreaking 20th century shoe designer, and was inspired by Andy Warhol.

Andy Warhol encouraged him to pursue his love for creating artistic paintings of shoes, and since then, Mark Schwartz has created hundreds of colorful and dynamic shoe paintings.

Much of his art originates from the shoes that he designs himself. It’s very fitting that Mark transforms highly sought-after shoes into highly sought-after paintings, purchased by both private and public collectors.

Mark’s technique of using ink with watercolor washes adds exciting movement to his shoe subjects. It’s the perfect way of capturing the often blurred objects on our own feet as we rush from place to place.

Mark is often asked if he prefers designing shoes or painting them. His response is that “I love both but I must say that painting a shoe as art, taking a sketch or scribble of an idea and making it into a painting that hangs in someone’s home, office or store gives me an exceptional feeling of personal joy and happiness.”

Andy Warhol – Shoe Series – Katie Patrick

Andy Warhol was an American painter, film maker and author. He studied design at the Carnegie institute of Technology. In 1949 he began working as a commercial artist, and won the award for the Art director’s club based on his shoe advertisements in 1957.

The main part of Warhol’s early career was based around shoes. He was well known for his adverts for women’s footwear in the 1950’s and the use of this subject matter was carried out throughout his career.

In the 1980’s he created a series of screen prints that incorporated diamond dust. This material is ground-level cloud composed of tiny ice crystals. This created a shimmering effect onto his screen prints, like his earlier work using gold leaf. This gave his image an overall captivating effect. The poster itself consist of a single emerald green shoe floating, however due to the use of materials it conveys a starry sky effect.

Warhol created both paintings and pop art’s with the subject around shoes. His production of shoe images came the prominent claim to his success. His first paintings were considered to be done in a loose, blotted-ink style. Warhol used the blotted line technique throughout his advertising career. This was produced through taping two pieces of blank paper together and drawing ink on one end of the page, then before this dried he pressed the two images together. This created a picture with irregular lines that he later on coloured in with watercolour. This was used in one of his most famous shoes ads  for I.Miller.

 

Van Gogh Shoe Paintings

The workers boots are worn for their functionality – protecting the foot and leg from water, extreme cold, mud or hazards (chemicals), or providing additional ankle support for difficult activities (hiking) – and for reasons of style and fashion. In some jobs you are legally required to wear workers boots, such as on a building site, however sometimes it’s just part of the uniform to appear smart.

In 1886, while Van Gogh was in Paris, he visited a flea market and came across a pair of worn out shoes. He bought them and brought them back to his studio in the city’s Montmartre district. It’s not clear why he bought them, but it could be simply that he needed a new pair of shoes. Apparently, he did try to wear them and found the fit impossible. Instead, he decided to use them as a prop for painting, and the shoes soon became the most celebrated footwear in the history of modern art. In these paintings, he captures a pair of shoes on the floor, most with laces untied as if they have just been taken off at the end of a long day. Unlike other still life subjects, the shoes have been to all the places and have seen all of the struggles of the owner.

Cologne’s Wallraf Richartz Museum hosted an exhibition dedicated to the Dutch artists single famous ‘Shoe Painting’ series. The exhibition celebrates the art historians and philosopher that have written about these paintings, including Martin Heidegger, Meyer Schapiro, and Jacques Derrida. His shoe paintings can also be seen in several different museums, including The Van Gogh Museum, Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University, The Baltimore Museum of Art, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Robyn White

Joseph Ford

Joseph Ford – matt

It’s a project that on paper seems like it wouldn’t work: how to create a juxtaposition between breathtaking aerial landscape photography and the fine details of fashion.Joseph Ford made it happen. The Brighton-based photographer first showed a number of aerial images shot while working on advertising jobs in Sicily, Mauritius and Morocco to art director Stephanie Buisseret and stylist Mario Faundez at Paris street-wear magazine, WAD. The trio then came up with appropriate combinations of color, fabric and lighting to create near seamless transitions from photo to photo. Plaid stripes morph into city streets and undulating sand dunes seem to flow from the folds of a wrinkled sweater. The series of composite images was selected for the Association of Photographers Awards in the UK and received an Honorable Mention in the International Photography Awards.