I am very excited to announce the launch of my exhibition, A Beautiful Step Forward: Wedding Shoe Portraits at The Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto. The exhibition is part of the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, now in its tenth year.
As a photographer for the museum, I have photographed thousands of shoes in its historical collection, including celebrity shoes from the not too distant past like John Lennon’s boots, and Marilyn Monroe’s red heels.
My work in another genre – wedding photography – inspired the photographs in A Beautiful Step Forward: Wedding Shoe Portraits.
I believe that photographers who shoot weddings are actually social historians. I, and other photographers working in this area, document the rituals and trends of the time. We preserve valuable information about the people getting married, and the societies and communities they live in.
I have photographed thousands of weddings, and many hundreds of my shots are of shoes – as stand alone portraits, or as central actors in the moment. I am particularly touched to be witness to those times when the bride’s family and friends – the people who love her the most – help her put on her shoes after everything else is done.
In A Beautiful Step Forward: Wedding Shoe Portraits I want to show that wedding shoes are more than just footwear. Though often unseen, they are valuable markers of identity.
Many cultures have very specific rituals involving shoes. Ninet writes, “In the Armenian culture, the bride’s family provides the groom with challenges to complete, to show that he’s worthy of the bride’s hand. In one challenge, the bride’s brother hides her shoes and the groom has to find them. The brother then puts the shoes on the bride’s feet, symbolizing that her family accepts that she can now leave their home and start a new life with her husband.”
Wedding shoes are also embedded with tremendous meaning that is deeply personal for each bride. Angela writes, “Ah, those shoes…I wanted unique shoes for my big day. The sky high silver heels and the dusky heather satin with silver beading and sexy zippered backs were the statement I was looking for. I am petite and wearing these heels made me stand tall, confident and proud. I danced in these beautiful shoes until midnight!”
So often, wedding shoes are part of the personal narrative. Amanda writes, “I grew up in Iowa and moved to New York City, but remained a country girl at heart. Planning my wedding was something that started at a very young age! I dreamt of an elegant barn, with rafters draped with grapevine, tall candelabra’s on the tables, a bluegrass band, and the most down-home delicious food to be shared with our friends, family and my true love. My fairy tale came true. I walked down a rose petal path wearing an ivory lace mermaid gown that gave just enough swish when dancing, and statement shoes whose name should be urban cowgirl. They have the sexiness of that perfect shoe in the window of a Fifth Avenue store, but the elegance of a past time when waltzing on a Saturday night with your sweetheart was the bee’s knees.”
I hope you can make it to the exhibit!
Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival
A Beautiful Step Forward: Wedding Shoe Portraits
Ron Wood
May 23 – June 6
327 Bloor St. West
Sun 12-5, M T W F S 10-5, Thurs 10-8
