Sole Searching

Okay, Mate, Just Come Straight To The Point

Photographs copyright: DAVID McMAHON

This week's theme is shoes, so I was wondering if I should post shots of cowboy boots, or soccer boots, or cricket boots, or even a pair of flippers by the pool. Just something unusual. Maybe even a pair of R. M. Williams boots, the quintessential Outback footwear.

Then, while I mulled over the many possibilities, I remembered these shots I took during a 36-hour stopover in Singapore in December.

I was walking through an area popularly known as Little India. The sights and sounds and aromas reminded me instantly of India, the country where I was born and educated. I could hear Bollywood film music, I could smell Indian spices and I could see the brilliant, bright colours of Indian sweets.

Then I spotted this display of ceremonial sandals, called "mojaris". They are very popular in the Punjab, in the country's north. As a child, I would probably not have given them a second glance, because they were such an everyday sight.

But when I have a camera in my hands, nothing is commonplace. So I asked the shopkeeper's permission and I was delighted by the fact that he seemed amazed that anyone would want to photograph footwear.

No, I didn't feel like a heel!