Shoes say so very many things.  They can acquaint us with someone's personality, mood, style, status & profession.  They can inform us where someone is going or where they have been.  Our choice of footwear can address fashion, comfort, durability & self-image, sometimes all at once.  The earliest shoe designs were simplistic & practical, often just a bag of leather around the foot, protecting from rocks & cold.  Sandals date back to around 8000BC & one anthropologist, Erik Trinkaus, has suggested evidence that shoes were being worn from around 40,000 years ago.  In the 16th Century, Leonard da Vinci wrote that the foot was "a masterpiece of engineering & a work of art."  With its 26 bones - more than any other single part of the body - 20 keenly defined muscles & 114 ligaments, it is little wonder that our long distant ancestors figured out they should protect them.  In the Middle-Ages, turn-shoes had been developed with flaps & draw strings to create better fits, & it would not be too long before someone realised that a good looking shoe held power.  In an age where the sight of a lady's ankle was taboo & lusted after, a pretty shoe meant for an attractive foot &, subsequently, an overwhelming appeal.  As Europe gained power & wealth, extravagant shoes were a symbol of one's status.  Coupled with the belief that narrow feet were a sign of breeding (along with high foreheads & ivory pale skin), shoes were designed with long, pointed toes - the longer the point, the higher the wearer's standing in society - & many Edwardian men & women would wear shoes at least a size too small.  In China, from the 10th to 20th Century, the custom of foot binding was practised; with elegant silk slippers designed specifically for those who achieved the Lotus shape.  The Lotus Gait, the term used to describe the swaying walk necessitated by bound feet, was considered sexually exiting by men. In the 1950s the stiletto emerged from Italy; very likely a reaction to the clunky, earnest shoes of the 40s.  With its aerodynamic arch & needle point heel delicately & elegantly balancing the weight of the body, they have become a symbol of everything from empowerment to bondage. The average woman in the 1940s owned 5 pairs of shoes.  In the 2000s, the average was more like 30 pairs.  At a wedding in December 2010, I asked a guest seated across the table from me how many pairs of shoes she owned.  Her first response was, "Including thongs?"  Grinning broadly, I told her yes - after all, what Australian can honestly deny them as footwear - and her answer to me was, "Not that many, about 60." My book is about the why.  Why we buy them.  Why we wear the ones we wear.  Why we love them.  Why we refuse to admit they are dead, or part with them.  Why we suffer them. It is about our best & worst memories & experiences.  But mostly, it's about what drives our desire for that pair.  What do your shoes say about you? The Shoe Project Many thanks to all of the people  who have gotten involved with this  book over the years.  Especially to  all of the random strangers who  have granted me leave to  photograph their feet instead of  running away screaming from the  strange girl with the large camera!    Over the past 5 years I have a  great collection of photos from a  number of different cities & towns  across different countries. I’m still  collecting.  Please contact me if you'd like to  be a part of this book!! I'm always  on the lookout for people willing to  model or talk about their shoes.  New & shiny, or old & broken/filthy,  shoes from all walks are  welcomed.