Have I stumbled on a secret art movement? Here’s another carefully posed shoe spotted while walking the dog.
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Immediate thought, Jonathan: were I in Japan this would be immediately crystal clear. Scenario: Mother with child (either in a stroller – or being carried) possibly on the back as in traditional style in Japan – called “onbu” – a kind of sling/back-pack – infant’s legs dangling! A shoe – or – in this case slipper/bootee – drops – unseen by the parent. Another person walks along – finds the footwear – and props it up off the pavement on the fence line – to protect it and hopefully serve for ease of discovery should the parent walk back seeking to find it. In Japan anything and everything possible to drop is so placed – out of harms way but designed for ease of recovery by the person who may have dropped it. At first I thought I was being directed to look at the weathered art of the peeling paint – very Japanese wabi~sabi! Your photograph has itself true aesthetic merit in any case!
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love this one!
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That’s exactly the scenario I imagined, Jim. Especially close to the Enmore Pool, we often see discarded baby accoutrements and larger people’s swimming accessories on the grass or paths. I usually pick them up and place them on the nearest fence: some of them then migrate along the fence for days before disappearing, hopefully reclaimed by their owners. (I did think wabi-sabi as I took the photo.)
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