Marja-Leena Rathje
Home ::: my left foot

my left foot


leftfoot.jpg

after hands, come feet...

Marja-Leena | 19/02/2007 | 5 comments
themes: Being an Artist, Human, Photoworks


5 comments

I think my baby footprints, made on the day I was born, might be still floating around somewhere. Or maybe I just dreamed the whole thing up. Did they really used to do that: press a newborn's foot into an ink blotter? Could that have been my first step, onto a clean white page?

Oh I love this. I can feel the gravity. So intimate.

Hi Dave, I know some babies have had their footprints taken, but none of ours did, nor that of mine as far as I know. I wonder if it was a fad/fashion for a while in some places? I do like the idea of that first step on paper!

Hi Tall Girl, glad you like this! I found it to be a strange experience - we don't usually get the bottoms of our feet photographed, and especially with one's weight bearing down on them. Thanks to scanners!

Hmm. Reminds me of an Evergon series i saw in Saskatoon years ago. Only he did nude people laying face down on (presumably very thick) plate glass. How did you keep from breaking your scanner glass?

So Evergon must have had the people on plate glass upon tall platforms so he could photograph them from underneath?? I don't think there are scanners quite big enough....

Oh, I just rested my foot on it as lightly as I could - I wasn't standing on it! The scanner remained on my desk in its usual spot while the leg had to go up, while I kept in reach of the mouse. Heh, that paints a funny picture!