Fancy Footwork Photo

Photographer’s Note

A Zulu chief and the fancy foot gear he needs to wear! Imagine that. I was not sure what category to put this one in - does not seem like daily life to me, perhaps ceremony? At any rate, the sandals are not authentic, and if I had caught the back side of them, you would have seen the word "Nike" carved into the rubber they use to make these "modern" sandals. The rest of it is real though.

This was taken at a "cultural experience center" near to Johannesburg. The man in this fancy footwear, was dressed in the full regalia of a Zulu Chief, and was telling long stories of the Zulu history in South Africa. The Zulu people are a famous warrior nation who defeated the British army at the battle of Isandhlawana in 1879 with rawhide shields and broad bladed stabbing spears as their only weapons.

Tech: I cropped this alot to get just the footwear in, then adjusted contrast and saturated a little more. Also used unsharp mask and added a frame.

kmolz, digi-mom, hispic, Bogdan, aralda, Jason_teale has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

carper (64194) 2004-03-06 9:11

Very nice one Judy,

Great colours, an realy a good photo from an other side. Very good job , realy nice.

gadinga (606) 2004-03-06 10:23

True that it is indeed fancy. I am almost more interested in the pants than the shoes, however. Very creative crop, you have created some interesting negative spaces in this image.

bfly (5737) 2004-03-06 10:24

I think it is a very modern cinematic frame as well...colors and grains match very well with the concept...thanks...

hojper (2830) 2004-03-06 11:08

Very original and very daring. In spite of your interesting note on the footwear, what we see of his outfit makes us wonder what the rest looks like. But it's OK, you play with our imagination in the right way. Is this the beginning of a new theme?

eelliott305 (776) 2004-03-06 12:31

Great shot Judy, very eye catching. I like those things, I don`t know what they are, on his legs. I hope sometime you will show us the rest of his oufit.

eleparc (24059) 2004-03-06 12:34

Hy judy. I like the theme, the cropping, the colors. maybe a better focus would have improved it a bit IMO. pity we did not see the Nike sign.. it would have been a picture denouncing treachery...;-) good shot

Mrg (823) 2004-03-06 13:50

The ideia is excelent.I think is it a litle out of focus, but i really like this one.Very god

Rockyboy (20580) 2004-03-06 14:46

Very intersting note and nice picture of a zulu chief' foots. Thanks for sharing it on TE, Judy!

Georges (11183) 2004-03-06 15:23

Costume local ou deguisement?
Bonne presentation avec un cadrage hors du commun qui est bien vu.
Merci pour cette note et bravo pour cette image Judy

bullybeef53 (3207) 2004-03-06 16:40

Judy-This costume is certainly a bit of history . I would love to see the rest of it cents you stimulated my curiosity to a great degree .

A Zulu chief Photograph is something I only saw in a text book . I did a workshop which I'll send tomorrow since my limited is Up.
A wonderful idea and thanks for sharing .

cool_s15 (4044) 2004-03-07 6:44

Interesting shot and framing here, Judy...
Great colors. I'd be great with more sharpness. Thanks for a great note. Nice job.

henrye (3498) 2004-03-08 5:14

This is great! I like the way you focused just on the feet, it makes the shot very interesting (I wish I thought of that... :-)). It may lack a little bit of sharpness, but the idea is great and you did well to see and capture this. Well done!

kmolz (997) 2004-03-26 16:22

Hi Judy! Have you realized that you could be launching a world fashion revolution here. What if Gautier, Versacci, Gucci or Donna Karan is subscribed at TE and gets inspired? hahaha, could you handdle such responsability? Anyway, I loved your picture!!!

[2] +

pascalbene (1730) 2004-05-11 14:29