Feet are undoubtedly a divisive topic. In the words of artist and creative director, Sarah Pritchard, “people love them, hate them, some people even sexualise them”. It leaves me wondering why, then, did Sarah set out to create a 32-page zine dedicated entirely to photographing them?
It was back in 2022 when Aaron Fabian, the founder of Innen (a Swedish publishing house), contacted Sarah, asking her to make a zine. “Around the same time, I had heard a rumour that Anna Wintour wouldn’t allow bare feet into Vogue,” Sarah remembers. “It was funny that a bare foot was somehow ‘anti-fashion’ and even a little bit controversial.” Though she concedes it was probably only a rumour, she started thinking about how she could explore the topic visually.
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It was just after Australia’s Covid lockdowns when Sarah began working on the zine. “I usually have very specific ideas and can see an image before creating it. I’ll wake up in the middle of the night, sketch something up and that will be what the image ends up looking like,” she tells me. Some of these images came true, like the shot of a snail about to be crushed under a heel. But others were created remotely and Sarah let go of any formula.
Fashion Journal: Hi Sarah! Could you please tell me a little bit about yourself and what you do.
Sarah: Hi Fashion Journal! Coincidentally I’ve actually just landed back in Australia, it’s nice to hear from you! A little about me, I’m a creative/art director and have recently relocated to Paris. It’s super nice to be back home, though, even for a minute.
How did you first get started in the industry?
Honestly, it’s been a journey! I left home when I was very young and started working in retail to get by. I was juggling jobs, working in stores during the day and in hospitality during the nights. I moved my way through retail and started working in fashion. Then somehow I became a stylist. It’s something that I’d never considered but it just kind of happened. People asked me to style things and so I did.
After working as a stylist for a while, there was a kind of lightbulb moment for me, I realised I wasn’t actually interested in the clothes themselves but the overall image. Don’t get me wrong, I love the clothing but when I was styling, it was always about creating a character or exploring an idea. I was working on the creative for these photoshoots and the styling was just one aspect of the storytelling, a tool almost. At a similar time, I had started working in still life and loved the challenge of communicating ideas using fewer elements in an image.
Now I mostly work on the conceptual end of things as a creative/art director but I still like to do the executing of the ideas via set or styling when I can. This is an aspect of my job that I love, bringing the ideas to life. I’m super hands-on, so working from concept to execution is really fulfilling.
How would you describe Best Foot Forward to someone who hasn’t seen it yet?
It’s a 32-page zine dedicated to feet.
What inspired your decision for this project? Why did you want to capture feet?
Aaron from Innen contacted me way back at the start of 2022 and asked me to put together a zine. Around the same time, I had heard a rumour that Anna Wintour wouldn’t allow bare feet into Vogue, that she has a kind of foot phobia. It’s probably just a rumour but I kept thinking about how divisive feet are. People love them, hate them, some people even sexualise them.
I thought it was funny that a bare foot was somehow ‘anti-fashion’ and even a little bit controversial. I thought it would be interesting to explore the theme visually. We created the zine a while ago now but it’s just been released. It’s funny because in the industry we are used to such quick turnarounds, everything should have been shot yesterday you know, it’s always super speedy. After sitting on it for such a long time I thought “Is this still relevant? Have the photos aged?” but it’s been really well received despite the delay.
Step me through the creation process (mind the pun!). Who did you collaborate with to bring this to life and how did you capture the imagery?
When I started working on the zine I was in Melbourne and we had just come out of covid lockdowns. For me it was about working with friends and community, and was a bit of a “coming back together.”
Originally I set out to make 32 images with 32 different photographers but as soon as we started working on the images I realised that wasn’t going to happen, each photographer was so excited and wanted to make more than one image each! I kind of embraced this and decided not to stick with a formula, it ended up being a bit of a mash up of everyone’s work.
I usually have very specific ideas and can see an image before creating it. I’ll wake up in the middle of the night, sketch something up and that will be what the image ends up looking like. Some of the images in the zine were like this – the snail about to be crunched under a heel or the pigeon wearing boots, these were some of the ideas that I saw straight away and worked with amazing photographers to bring the vision to life.
Other images were created remotely and some images even came out from the archive. Sergiy Barchuk had this incredible photo he’d already taken of a bare foot about to step on a nail. He emailed it to me when I had told him about the zine and it ended up being a perfect fit.
The sock on the second last page was photographed by Cameron Bensley. It’s my dirty sock after a full day working on set (an unwritten rule on photoshoots is that you cannot step on the background while wearing shoes, so sometimes you’ll see the whole team working in their socks, super strange). After seeing the state of my dirty sock we knew we needed to photograph it.
The whole project was really fun and the process really varied. I loved working with everyone, it really did feel like a big creative collaboration and was a nice way to get back into the swing of things post covid lock down.
The hardest part about making the zine was working in black and white. Colour is such an important aspect of my work so learning to create images without this was a good challenge… although I’m not sure I’d do another black and white series.
If you could be a shoe, what would you be and why?
If I was a shoe, I’d be something silly. Maybe an open toe sneaker, comfortable but also totally ridiculous and impractical. Or maybe the Loewe Balloon pumps. I’m very serious about not being too serious and I think these shoes are as well. This is one thing about the industry that freaks me out, everyone takes themselves very seriously.
Where can people buy a copy of Best Foot Forward?
I’ve left some copies with my friends at Perks and Mini store in Melbourne. Or you can find them online via Innen.
What other projects do you have in the works?
I have some exciting jobs coming up and some more printed projects on the horizon. You’ll have to stay tuned though, no spoilers here!
Did you have anything else to add?
A big thank you to everyone who worked on the zine with me!
Contributors:
Adrian Escu
Daphne Nguyen
Lebon + Bourgeois
Kuba Ryniewicz
Lauren Bamford
Cameron Bensley
Karolina Burlikowska
Dan McMahon
Nicolas Haeni, Camille Lichtenstern
Sergiy Barchuk
Charly Gosp
Jonathan Vincent Baron, Jack Appleyard
Moritz Tibes
Katelyn Genner
Jo Duck, Xeneb Allen
Josh David Payne, Megan Mandeville
Tais Sirote
Richard Andre
Keep up with Sarah here.
This article Why Australian artist Sarah Pritchard released a zine dedicated entirely to feet appeared first on Fashion Journal.
2025-05-07 12:48:00
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