I spotted this flagstone on King's Parade on Sunday and took a few photos with much clearer writing but I decided it definitely needed feet. I suppose a pair of Louboutins would be ideal but (a) I wouldn't know a pair if they trod on me and (b) there's only so long a spaniel is prepared to wait for designer footwear to arrive. This student hopped off her bike, gave me a disdainful 'tourist' look (probably not dissimilar to the disdainful 'student' look I was giving her) and marched right into my shot - thank you very much!
PS I have NO idea why we have a flagstone on King's Parade that says 'High Maintenance LIfe' - maybe when life becomes too simple they can dig it up and look for spray tan and nail extensions....
How strange. I wonder what the history is behind this stone. I like your story of the day that goes with this one aka the disdainful looks. Flippin' students think they own the place.
LOL love the fake tan and nails comment Judith!! I never could afford to have a pair of boots like that when i was a student!!! Much as we could afford was a jar of coffee mate...........eeeewwwwwww! love to know the story of the stone but a patience rewarded shot!
I like how you are able to incorporate the random passerby in your shots and add a sense of movement and elevated interest into an otherwise simple scene.
The shot is great, even without the Loubs. Maybe I can take a shot of mine and you can cut & paste it on to your picture - haha. Although, the soles are worn so the red is all gone except for the spots that don't touch the floor.
Briliant capture! These boots look swish enough to go with the high maintenance life :-D Maybe someone had a lot of fun replacing a flag stone. I used to live in Tuebingen, which was at one time overrun by famous people. Almost every house had a sign telling you who had visited or lived there at one point. My favourite one was the plaque declaring "Goethe puked here" ...
John is right they have a red sole but have only ever seen pictures of Louboutins ! Great combined shot of interesting flagstone, great boots & a bike !
Would it be heresy to suggest that a pair of Oxford brogues might have happened along? Fun shot, and not sure why 'high maintenance' so...
Out of interest, I pulled this down from a site called cam.misc.org.uk/hml
[sic] According to biographical notes on the sculptor Ekkehard Altenburger for the 2001 Jerwood Sculpture Awards he did this himself in around 1998 as a project on interfering with public spaces. From pages 6-7 in the recently uploaded catalogue:
Three years ago, he used his technical prowess as a carver to incise a stone slab with the words ‘High Maintenance Life.’ Although he lodged it in a pavement at the centre of Cambridge, nobody objected or tried to stop him. ‘They thought I was a council official’, he says,‘and my slab has been there ever since. I just wanted to question how things progress, to take a step back and look at the system as a whole.’
@ellida Well there you go Graham!! Brilliant info thanks! It's out-survived Nadia's as well. I was just chatting to my husband about it and we were saying that the mortar looks a bit different as though the slab had been replaced. So long ago though!! It is very beautifully carved but I don't suppose many people notice it. Interestingly a friend of mine bought the previous set of York stone paving from King's Parade from the council to use in his patio - it looks very nice. Well I shall have to look up the artist and see what else he had interfered with. For once the council has done the right thing and left it alone. Oxford brogues banned here!! Cheers!!!!
Judith, what a good spot, I think you should have waited for some Ugg's to come along :) ...btw I've pinched the idea from your 365th pic of your second year for my 365th pic of my first year :) ...hope you don't mind....Phil
this is fantastic Judith - the three elements of this shot are so wrong the scene is right! As Alison says the mountain bike is cool, but who rides in boots like that on a mountain bike and surely the flagstone was only put there for our enjoyment of a good shot?? awesome. BTW your profile pic is scaring me, will I be looking for the old you or the new you when we meet? LOL
@judithg LOL - then maybe the flagstone was for her...looks high maintenance from the boots! And your comments about her giving you the 'tourist' look nad you her the 'student' look had me in stiches, almost choked on my apple pie!!
Fantastic commentary and great shot Judith! I think the boots looks much better than a pair of Louboutins (I see too many fake one here in China ... haha)!
Ha! Love the story and I, too, like those boots! This is a very creative and interesting shot! I am not sure how I have been missing some of yours lately...sorry!
Love this shot! Sounds like you had the perfect model step into the shot to illustrate the meaning on the flagstone slogan. Those boots are fabulous. :)
Cool shot.
Out of interest, I pulled this down from a site called cam.misc.org.uk/hml
[sic] According to biographical notes on the sculptor Ekkehard Altenburger for the 2001 Jerwood Sculpture Awards he did this himself in around 1998 as a project on interfering with public spaces. From pages 6-7 in the recently uploaded catalogue:
Three years ago, he used his technical prowess as a carver to incise a stone slab with the words ‘High Maintenance Life.’ Although he lodged it in a pavement at the centre of Cambridge, nobody objected or tried to stop him. ‘They thought I was a council official’, he says,‘and my slab has been there ever since. I just wanted to question how things progress, to take a step back and look at the system as a whole.’
And so very convenient!