Love Shoes? Me too Helmut!

It look sixteen years before I finally listened to what every teacher seemed to be saying..."Study what you enjoy." It seems so simple when you think about it but there are always expectations. There is always the worry about what your parents will think, which teachers will be happy with your choice or how certain subjects look on your CV. More often than not, it's a case of this all being in your head as everyone wants the best for you. When I finally sat down and listened to what I wanted to do at University, blocking out all the worries of matching my sister studying Philosophy or my best friend reading History at Oxford, fashion was the answer. In fact, I was remember being asked what I really loved and answering "Shoes". Having thought that was a silly answer at the time it managed perfectly well to leading me to a course which embraces my creative writing and developing justifiable but elaborate ideas based upon the fashion industry.

Having arrived in my 3rd year to the stumbling block of a subject to write my dissertation upon. I applied the same theory. What did I love? Shoes. I had to make a valid link between shoes and visual culture and so I began to assess how they make women feel. The intrinsic assocation with confidence and sex appeal opened many ideas for development. Through my research I found there was one very famous photograph who shared a similar passion for stilettos...


Helmut Newton has to be one of the most famous photographers of the 21st century. His black and white photography is iconic and often a point of reference for modern day contemporaries. Whilst assessing whether the stiletto was a tool of female empowerment or subordination, I looked at how Newton had composed his photographs which often featured naked women apart from a pair of high heels. Most famously is the image below from his 'Naked and Dressed' portfolio (1981):


One lecture given by photographer Mark Enstone, a successful beauty and fashion photographer, reassured my interpretation of Newton's work: through the action within the photograph and the angle he takes the shot he is positively displaying the women in a powerful position. According to Enstone, there is only one photograph which Newton took which showed a woman shackled to a bed but flips this idea by showing the person who had captured her to also be a woman.

My understanding of Newton's work has grown with my love for his images.


I absolutely love how this photograph emphasises his love for high heels and also the effect they have on the wearer's legs when worn. By removing the rest of the body of the woman, it adds a fetishistic element: