THIS IS WHAT THAT “HEAD OVER HEELS” FEELING LOOKS LIKE – LITERALLY

We’ve all heard the famous saying about “falling head over heels” for someone. In general, the saying refers to the act of falling in love – the gravity-like
consequences of being really into someone. But what about standing head over heels instead of falling? What would that feel like, and most importantly, what would that literally look like?
The answer to that question has recently been addressed by one artist who takes the famous saying just a little too literally. Patrice Letarnec, a talented photographer and art director based in France, has
become an internet sensation overnight, with his “Head Over Heels” photography series making everyone rethink their visual expectations, as well as what it
means to be disoriented both emotionally and physically.
The “Head Over Heels” series features photographs of anonymous individuals wearing a variety of clothing upside-down, while walking, running, and jumping on their hands (instead of their feet). With heads and faces hidden in pants and skirts, with hands hidden in shoes, and with feet and legs making arm and hand gestures, Letarnec plays with a myriad of elements which contribute to the work’s overall concept. This series plays with ideas involving fashion, figurative
portraiture, irony, play-on-words, gravity, and humor.
So far, the “Head Over Heels” series has been circulating the web with almost everyone commenting and confessing that at first, they are totally perplexed
by what they see, which is probably why the photographs have gotten so much attention.
The viewer does not even realize that the person in the photograph is in an upside-down position. The hands are hidden in shoes, and for the first several seconds,
even the lack of a head on a body seems visually irrelevant.
When looking at the photos, the audience is immediately and simultaneously confused, amused, and delighted. All the photographs in the series were captured in the streets of Paris, adding an even more surreal impact to the work.