PRIDE
Pride is a photographic exploration of the phenomenon of male hair barbing within West African cities.
I once met a barber in Lagos who recounted the ways in which his profession, despite being perceived as a common and unimportant, enabled him to interact with important people; he even counted an ex-President among his clientele. This, he explained, brought him a great sense of pride. It is this sense of pride and the various ways it is achieved that informs the basis of this project.
The project investigates the relationship between hairstyles and individual and collective identities, highlighting the social impact of hair in the African society. The pictures document variety of hair styles and capture in detail the spaces in which hair barbers operate throughout major Western African cities. The project looks at the material and aesthetics worlds of barber saloons/shops, the iconographies and symbols that create an intimate-public convergence of people from all walks of life.
