21 September '17: #Footsie

Hello from Colour File HQ.
I remember as a kid hearing that Sir Bruce Forsyth (RIP) had a foot phobia (podophobia) and couldn’t stand seeing people’s feet. That’s all I could ever think of when I saw him on TV. The Instagram #footsie phenomenon definitely wouldn’t have been for him. Now it seems we’re all shooting pics of our own feet, shod and unshod and generally pedicured (#fromwhereistand). But I have to break it to you lovely digital natives that an illustrious foot pioneer paved the way for us waaaaaay before hashtags took on a life of their own: none other than the artist David Hockney. In 1983, aged 14 (so that dates it), I saw an exhibition of Hockney’s photos at the Hayward Gallery and what struck me the most was how his feet were in so many of his collages (like in ‘The Brooklyn Bridge’, see second pic). I’ve had a fondness for footsies ever since (see top left, in @libertylondon). Are you a #footsie fan? Have a tip-top day.
Martha, The Colour File x

IMG_1334
© Martha Roberts

Leave a Reply