Randy getting a shot of Lost Sole #19 on a highway in Tampa. Florida. Photograph by Kevin "Grab the Rope" Hon.

In a time when everyone seems focused on the technical aspect of photography and not the artistic aspect I decided to do something unique, I wanted to expose that the subject of the photo is what is most important, I wanted to go beyond megapixels and optical zooms. I want the timeless saying that a picture is worth a thousand words to ring true again. The uniqueness of the One Shoe Diaries comes from the fact the images are not something I cannot accumulate over night. Which both frustrates me and teaches me patience, it sets the collection apart from the thousands of online photo galleries popping up everywhere. The one shoe photos are what I think of as opportunity photos. Photos where you have to be at the right place at the right time. A lot of people can get nice photos of a shoe, but can they get hundreds of unstaged lost shoes from all over the country? It takes the opportunity to travel but most of all it takes determination that borders on obsession to stop in the middle of a busy highway and get down on the ground to get the right angle for the photo.

This volume focuses a little less on the travel aspect, and more on the stories that we want to tell about the people in our lives that mean the most to us. We endured extreme highs and extreme lows during the time frame in which this volume takes place. We were shocked when we found out we had conceived a baby, which turned to elation, only to become despair when it turned into tragedy. Soon after we experienced the passing of our son, Noah Charles Hamilton, amazing and unexplainable events brought true hope back into our lives like a tidal wave. We wrote this volume despite being extremely hard to do so, in order share the experience we had to perhaps help others who have to go through the same horrible experience find hope.

I would like to thank everyone who has supported us in this endeavor. It has been really fun to get all of the emails and messages about other’s lost sole experiences. Some of which have been sad, others humorous, but most of all they have enriched and reshaped our view of this world.

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We took the southern route of I-10 through Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and eventually California. Over the course of the journey we encountered flat tires, small fires, running out of fuel and at times out of money. Some of the highlighted shoes were a flip flop in Pensacola, a cowboy boot in Austin, a high heel in Hollywood Hills, plus many more. We discovered and photographed over 150 lost shoes and gained an inmeasurable amount of life experience.

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You can add only one book on page

Volume 2: Friends, Family and Lost Soles

This volume focuses a little less on the travel aspect, and more on the stories that we want to tell about the people in our lives that mean the most to us. We endured extreme highs and extreme lows during the time frame in which this volume takes place. We were shocked when we found out we had conceived a baby, which turned to elation, only to become despair when it turned into tragedy. Soon after we experienced the passing of our son, Noah Charles Hamilton, amazing and unexplainable events brought true hope back into our lives like a tidal wave. We wrote this volume despite being extremely hard to do so, in order share the experience we had to perhaps help others who have to go through the same horrible experience find hope.

I would like to thank everyone who has supported us in this endeavor. It has been really fun to get all of the emails and messages about other’s lost sole experiences. Some of which have been sad, others humorous, but most of all they have enriched and reshaped our view of this world.

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Volume 1: A Journey Across America One Shoe at a Time

We took the southern route of I-10 through Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and eventually California. Over the course of the journey we encountered flat tires, small fires, running out of fuel and at times out of money. Some of the highlighted shoes were a flip flop in Pensacola, a cowboy boot in Austin, a high heel in Hollywood Hills, plus many more. We discovered and photographed over 150 lost shoes and gained an inmeasurable amount of life experience.

Shipping Rate: F

December 2009, Outside Magazine Cover

Of course it struck a cord with me so I wrote a letter to the editor. To my surprise a neighbor informed me about seeing my name in a magazine recently, and remembered it was Outside Magazine. I immediately went home and searched through my issue and sure enough, there it was. Just a small excerpt, but pretty cool to me nonetheless. Below is the letter I wrote in its entirety.

I just finished reading your article Foot Loose about the washed up shoes with feet in them and it struck a chord with me. This has been one of my greatest fears, that I will one day walk up to a shoe to photograph it and a there would be a foot will be still in it!

I have been engaged in producing a self-created project entitled “The One Shoe Diaries” for over 5 years now. My project has been featured on HLN and many newspapers around the U.S. The project is all about my wife and I’s adventures traveling in a motor home after losing my house to Hurricane Ivan, all the while writing a journal and connecting the stories to all of the lost and abandoned shoes we came across. We have since settled down after traveling full time for 4 years. since we stopped we have experienced the ultimate low and high of human existence. We both lost a child and gained a

Randy's excerpt is in the highlighted area

child. Our son Noah died during birth, and just 1 month ago my wife gave birth to our little girl Nora. It brought everything full circle. During all of those journeys I continued to photograph the shoes, or Lost Soles as I like to call them. Many of the Lost Soles then became connected to actual lost souls. For example. I drove by a semi-truck that had obviously just veered off the road and crashed into a tree leaving the cab completely engulfed in flames. There were no emergency vehicles on the scene yet, just passer-bys that stopped to help. Not wanting to be in the way when help does arrive we continued on. Not but 100 yards down the road lie a discarded work boot. I had already had this type of occurrence happen so I knew what I wanted to do, or feel I HAD to do. We got off at the next exit and turned to the news and learned the man had been killed I stopped and got the photo and went home and dedicated that Lost Sole to that man who lost his life. At the time his name was not released by the news media yet so I had him listed as unidentified truck driver who could have been someone’s husband, or father, but at the very least was someone’s son. Within hours I got a comment to my post. “Thanks for the dedication. The man was in fact a husband, a father and of course a son. His name was Jeffrey Pierce Rodgers.” I was stunned. This was just one in a list of amazing connections between my shoes and people passing.

When I read about the feet showing up I got chills. People have always joked about that, and I always just laughed it off. That article took my whole Lost Soles concept to another level. I want to add it was written really well and brought out the mysterious and eerie nature of the findings without being overly macabre.

This is my first letter to an editor, I just felt compelled to write because lost shoes are very personal to me, and has been my life work for 5 years. I have a complete website totally devoted to it, I have two books and done numerous gallery showings.

I hope this letter finds you well and have a great day, Thanks for your time.

I stumbled upon these lost soles, strewn across the 3 mile bridge in Pensacola on a wet and foggy morning. There were a total of 17 Lost Soles, in this photo #329 through #341 are visible.

But now my images are not even coming up on the first 3 pages of google images when the keywords Lost Soles are used to search with. While I cannot take full credit for the recent influx of Lost Sole images, I have to think some of them are inspired by my One Shoe Diaries as some photographers directly reference me in their blogs. It is very cool to see that I am not the only person who is enthralled by the mysterious lost soles, just the most-obsessed :)

On another note, after looking at the photo, I should have picked up the over-the-door plastic hooks lying bedside Lost Sole #329 as I have been meaning to get some of those for the coat closet.

Volume 1 is a about a physical journey traveling across the U.S. in a motor home after becoming homeless following a disastrous hurricane. Volume 2 picks up where Volume 1 left off by embarking on another physical journey in the motor home but evolves more into a mental and spiritual journey involving a parents’ personal tragedy. And Volume 3 follows the struggle to get through that tragedy and find hope, eventually coming full circle with a Hollywood-esque ending. Interwoven in all the volumes are amazing stories of coincidence and serendipity that surround the mysterious lost shoes littering the highways. Many of the discovered shoes become Lost Sole dedications to actual lost souls who passed away on the same day as the shoes were discovered.

The full-color, 56 page books are all photographed, written, and designed by award-winning artist, Randall Louis Hamilton. Currently they are only available for purchase online and at gallery showings. These books must be seen to be appreciated and ebooks can be downloaded for free using the links below. Be sure to check out the interactive map of all the lost soles Randy has discovered across the U.S. plotted out utilizing GPS coordinates.

I invite you to download all three. I just ask that if you enjoy what you see and read, please buy a book. They make very unique gifts :) These books take a lot of work to create. They are true labors of love. I do everything in regards to their production: write, photograph, lay out the design, edit, everything except physically print them. Viovio.com does that for me.

And please feel free to send the PDFs to anyone you think might be interested in looking at it. Anything you can do to generate exposure for the project is greatly appreciated.

Download Volume 1: A Journey Across America, One Shoe at a Time PDF (5MB)	Volume 1: A Journey Across America One Shoe at a Time Volume 1 focuses on our journey from South Florida to Northern California after losing our residence on Pensacola Beach, Florida to Hurricane Ivan in 2004. Instead of taking it as a disaster, we took it as an opportunity to live full-time in a motor home and tour the country in search of adventure, all the while photographing all of the lost shoes we discovered. We took the southern route of I-10 through Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and eventually California. Over the course of the journey we encountered flat tires, small fires, running out of fuel and at times out of money. Some of the highlighted shoes were a flip flop in Pensacola, a cowboy boot in Austin, a high heel in Hollywood Hills, plus many more. We discovered and photographed over 150 lost shoes and gained an inmeasurable amount of life experience.
Download Volume 2: Friends, Family and Lost Soles PDF (5MB)	Volume 2: Friends, Family and Lost Soles In volume 2 we continued our adventures in the Cruise Master motor home by circling around the East Coast. We explored from Florida to Ohio to Maryland and back, eventually settling down back in Pensacola where the first journey began. All the while discovering more lost shoes, or what I now call, lost soles. This volume focuses a little less on the travel aspect, and more on the stories that we want to tell about the people in our lives that mean the most to us. We endured extreme highs and extreme lows during the time frame in which this volume takes place. We were shocked when we found out we had conceived a baby, which turned to elation, only to become despair when it turned into tragedy. Soon after we experienced the passing of our son, Noah Charles Hamilton, amazing and unexplainable events brought true hope back into our lives like a tidal wave. We wrote this volume despite being extremely hard to do so, in order share the experience we had to perhaps help others who have to go through the same horrible experience find hope. I would like to thank everyone who has supported us in this endeavor. It has been really fun to get all of the emails and messages about other’s lost sole experiences. Some of which have been sad, others humorous, but most of all they have enriched and reshaped our view of this world.
Download Volume 3: Lost Soles Lead to Hope Found **NEW** PDF (5MB)	Volume 3: Lost Soles Lead to Hope Found Just as the other Volumes, Volume 3 follows Sharon and Randy’s journey through life’s ups and downs. It begins with two people surviving every parent’s nightmare, to healing as a couple, eventually experiencing every parent’s greatest moment.  Along the way it dives further into the almost other-worldly connection between the lost soles and actual lost souls. I am very proud of this volume. It has so many levels to it and echoes back to experiences from earlier volumes that once seemed insignificant, but now revealed as very important events that shaped our lives. In essence this volume brings the One Shoe Diaries full circle. The ending is so perfect and Hollywood-esque, that if I had not personally experienced it and had witnessed it, I would not believe it was genuine. Following up on this Volume will be a tough act. However as evidenced in the One Shoe Diaries, life always has forks in the road. You never know what is store. Life is an adventure for sure.

I invite you to download all three. I just ask that if you enjoy what you see and read, please buy a book. (visit our Lost Soles Store) They make very unique gifts :) These books take a lot of work to create. They are true labors of love. I do everything in regards to their production: write, photograph, lay out the design, edit, everything except physically print them. Viovio.com does that for me.

And please feel free to send the PDFs to anyone you think might be interested in looking at it. Anything you can do to generate exposure for the project is greatly appreciated.

–Note: If you want a volume before Christmas you MUST order before December 15th!!—

Volume 1: A Journey Across America, One Shoe at a Time

Volume 2: Friends, Family and Lost Soles

Volume 3: Lost Soles Lead to Hope Found **NEW**