The last living Chinese women who passed through the terrible custom of foot binding

Photographer Joe Farrell is the author of bright, but at the same time, ambiguous portraits of elderly women who passed through the terrible custom of foot binding. Fueled by his desire to document through photography the ancient traditions and the people, neglected the modern era, she began her portrait series with Zhang Yun Ying. This lady was one of the few survivors of the Chinese women, who in childhood had undergone a painful procedure of foot binding. Since then, the photographer every year returning to the village where he lives 88-year-old woman to create a visual diary of the recently deceased history that is about to disappear from our collective memory.



The tradition of foot-binding is rooted in the days of the song dynasty.



Bandaging traditionally carried out in childhood, when the bones are much more pliable.



The so-called "Lotus feet" is 7 cm in length, walking on them is almost impossible.



Those legs belonged to a woman who adhered to the Confucian idea of piety and service, thereby attracting influential husbands and prosperity to the family.



Foot binding was banned by the Chinese government in 1911, however, the practice continued in rural communities until 1939.

Photographer Jo Farrell saw disturbing Parallels between foot binding and modern modifications of the female body, like plastic surgery, Botox ® and removal of the ribs.

"Model" Farrell — 80-year-old and 90-year-old woman, whose memory is deteriorating. Three of them died last year.

8. Joe Farrell in a hurry to capture these women before they leave this world.

Her images visible texture and folds of the bodies of the elderly, which can read the joys and sorrows of past years.

These legs, which have become the object of abstract scientific research, living artifacts that carry traces of real women with stories that deserve to be remembered.





source: nlo-mir.ru

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