Michel Tcherevkoff would have us all wearing a floral bouquet on our feet

Blessed are those who think NPIRL, and not all of them inhabit virtual worlds.

A little over a year ago, professional photographer Michael Tcherevkoff had just completed a photograph of a leaf for a cosmetic client when it occured to him that it looked like a shoe. He manipulated the image on his computer and was so pleased with the result that he began to frequent the wholesale flower market just four blocks away from his home in New York City. He then twisted and bent and cut each flower into a fantastical shape, photographed it, and edited the image... to breathtaking effect.

Michel crafts each shoe from a single variety of flower or plant. In fact, every time he sees a flower, he thinks of a shoe. “Taking pictures of something that just exists was never interesting to me,” he says. “I’ve always gravitated to photography that’s more illustrative in nature, where I can create my own reality — with a twist.”


Lillywhite

This fresh work first came to my attention when Tezcatlipoca Bisiani shared the Virtual Shoe Museum with me. Created by Liza Snook, that website is pure ambrosia for anyone who embraces NPIRL thinking and merits serious browsing.


Divine

For those of you who live in Paris, Michel's collection “Shoe Fleur, A Footwear Fantasy” will be on display at Le Bon Marché through August of this year.


Salvatore

Michel's Shoe Fleur book was first published in English with texts by Myrna Kresh as "Shoe Fleur: A Footwear Fantasy" in September of 2007 by Welcome Books, a division of Random House Publishing. The French translation is called "Bouquets de Souliers" with texts by Anne Chabrol was published by Chène. The English version of the book is available worldwide through Amazon.com. Hi-Res images of the book covers are available through either publisher. You can view the English version online .

All concepts and photography by Michel Tcherevkoff. Many thanks for allowing us to republish them here.