Ben Hopper
I like these images because they are pushing the boundaries of what is considered attractive. A large part of peoples attachment to hair is based on feeling attractive and wanting to feel desirable therefore playing with the idea of what constitutes as 'attractive hair' and 'unattractive hair' is something I want to explore.
"Although armpit hair is a natural state it has become a statement.
Why is that?
For almost a century we have been brainwashed by the beauty industry, encouraging hair removal. “Natural Beauty” could be classified as a type of protest. By creating a contrast between common ‘fashionable’ female beauty and the raw unconventional look of female armpit hair thoughts are intrigued and a discussion is made.
Ben Hopper - "Natural Beauty""
www.therealbenhopper.com
Image from blog.therealbenhopper.com
Minami Minegishi (AKB48)
Video from youtube.com
Minami Minegishi's case highlights the symbolic nature of hair. What does hair tell us about a person? What does different hair mean in different cultures? Are different hairstyles and what they mean universal?
Matthew Rainwaters
For me Matthew Rainwaters beard photographs are about expressing ones self through hair. Creating an identity/defining yourself through your hair is a way of showing the world who you are. What kinds of hair does this include? Head hair? Facial hair? Body hair? Is it about being the centre of attention or being noticed? Vanity?
Images from mattrainwaters.com
Matthew Rainwaters
"Hundreds of bearded men strutted their stuff at the 2009 World Beard and Moustache Championships in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S, and photographer Matthew Rainwaters was there to capture it all. This resulting collection of portraits features the bushiest, most stylish, and downright weirdest beards from around the world. This magnificent showcase of facial hair also includes essays by several of the competitors."
www.mattrainwaters.com
Daniel Regan
Image from danielregan.com
Daniel Regan
"The Alopecia Project is a long-term photographic portrait project supporting people affected by the autoimmune hair loss condition alopecia. The condition can cause partial or total hair loss for unknown reasons and can affect people of all ages, backgrounds and genders. Regrowth is unpredictable and in many cases non-recurring. The condition is thought to affect 1.7% of the population.
There is a huge amount of shame associated with alopecia, especially for women. When a woman loses not only their hair but also their eyebrows and eyelashes they immediately begin to feel like less of a woman. Parts of the body that our society places so much pressure on, that apparently epitomise the very concept of femininity, are lost and there is little help offered to sufferers in the way of psychological therapies for a disease that can cause significant damage to self-esteem. Alopecia is not only a condition that affects the body but also the mind. It alters the way that a person perceives him or herself. Imagine looking in the mirror one day and not recognising the person that is staring back at you. Some people grasp the change quickly, embracing their new look, whilst for others it can have a devastating effect.
Throughout this project I invited people to be photographed as and how they wanted to be photographed. For some it involved baring all and showing their ‘naked selves’ and for others they wished to keep their eyelashes or eyebrows.
The true message of the project is that it’s OK being you, but most importantly being the you that you choose."
www.danielregan.com
Long-Horned Miao Girls
Why do people spend so much time, effort and pride on their hair? What is it to show?
Image from www.travelchinaguide.com
Melanie Bilenker
I really like the aesthetic of Bilenkers work and the intricate, modern take on victorian mourning hair jewellery. Hair as a keepsake, a way to remember somebody.
Images from melaniebilenker.com
Melanie Bilenker
"The Victorians kept lockets of hair and miniature portraits painted with ground hair and pigment to secure the memory of a lost love. In much the same way, I secure my memories through photographic images rendered in lines of my own hair, the physical remnants. I do not reproduce events, but quiet minutes, the mundane, the domestic, the ordinary moments."
www.melaniebilenker.com
Victorian Hair Jewellery
Image from www.vam.ac.uk
Throughout the Victorian period, there were ‘hair artists’ who specialised in turning locks of hair into jewellery that could be worn as a very physical memorial to someone who had died. Printed catalogues presented customers with a choice of designs and offered discreet guarantees that the locks of hair were not muddled or substituted in the process. The back of this brooch is engraved with the dates of a sixteen- year-old who died in 1842.”
Not all hair jewellery was associated with death. They were also often used as visual keepsakes, as objects of love and friendship.
Image from worthpoint.com
Image from laurenjenae.tumblr.com
Sybille Paulsen
"From jet-black to chestnut brown, ruby red to platinum blond, from crazy curly to silky sleek, wild and windswept or skillfully braided - hair is a unique and enchanting material that evokes a lot of sentiment. In my designs I honor this one-of-a kind quality and create emotionally charged artifacts full of personal meaning that surpass the decorative intention of jewelry. My inspiration is ignited by the sensuous experience of materials - their roughness, their weight or color - as well as details from my daily life - the marble floor of a museum, the colorful reflection on the canal nearby or the brass doorknob at a friend's home. Designing a piece for a client I'm also guided by their individual character and specific wishes thus allowing the artifact to gain depth. I'm driven by my curiosity and intuition- always looking for crafty techniques to add to my repertoire. My degree in architecture and my passion for art build a steady foundation for my research into manufacturing unique designs.
All of the pieces are carefully handmade in a labour intensive process that can take days or even weeks until they transform into beautiful, tactile objects inviting you to engage with them and learn their individual stories."
www.sybille.me
I like how personal the jewellery that Sybille Paulsen makes and the way she tries to capture each person in the jewellery she makes for them. I want to make something simple and personal to myself similar to how she has created these pieces.
Image from www.sybille.me
Comme Des Garcons
I really love this look. How did they create? Can I create something similar? I like the way it looks expensive and exciting, something to be desired. Trapping hair and solidifying it?
Image from anabundanceof.blogspot.com
The Solomon Islands
Unusual hair around the world. What makes hair interesting? Is hair interesting when it is unexpected? Children of the Solomon Islands often have bright blond hair which people are amazed by and see as beautiful. Is something unusual beautiful or is it that this is seen as exotic and exciting?
Image from blogs.discovermagazine.com
Alexandra Bruel (Vogue)
I chose to include this image because of the colours and jewels. I am looking at the idea of hair being something precious and prized. I found this image whilst doing the live project and really liked the aesthetic of it and felt it work I've been making for this project.
Image from www.marekandassociates.com
Christian Dior
Images from www.joelandsonfabrics.com
Ted Noten
I have been looking at trapping hair in different substances and suspending it like something priceless that needs to be protected. I have been exploring enshrining hair and I really like the way Noten's work captures fairly regular items and makes them the centre of a really unusual piece.
Image from maxsteffen.com
Marcel Dunger
Images from www.dunger-design.de
Märta Mattsson
Image from www.martamattsson.com
Sometimes I see beauty in things that other people find strange or are even repulsed by. I become fascinated when there is something you do not want to see and the feeling you get when you do not want to look at something, yet you still do. My jewellery deals with the tension that lies between attraction and repulsion. I take seemingly inappropriate materials, making ordinary and familiar objects seem extraordinary and unfamiliar.
In the 18th century many new breeds of animals and plants were discovered and it was the main era of cabinets of curiosities. People collected rarities because it gave them the feeling of being in the presence of something extraordinary and marvellous. The cabinets of curiosities were not meant to sympathize with the creatures on display, only marvel over their oddity. In a world where not many new and exotic breeds are discovered I use dead creatures in my pieces to evoke wonder. The creatures are transformed and reborn; given a new life as objects of astonishment.
Alexis Arnold
"The Crystallized Book Series addresses the materiality of the book versus the text or content of the book, in addition to commenting on the vulnerability of the printed book. The crystals remove the text and transform the books into aesthetic, non-functional objects. The books, frozen with crystal growth, have become artifacts or geologic specimens imbued with the history of time, use, and nostalgia. The series was prompted by repeatedly finding boxes of discarded books, by the onset of e-books, and by the shuttering of bookstores."
www.alexisarnold.com
I have been growing my own crystals using the same chemical as Arnold however my pieces have been much smaller and localised. What scale do I want to work on? What colours and sizes do I want the crystals? Should they be uniform or varied? Colours of hair?
Images from alexisarnold.com
Phil Poynter (LOVE)
Image from thelovemagazine.co.uk
Celine
Image from maneaddicts.com
Image from pinterest.com
Tod McLellan
I love the aesthetic of these images and think it would be great if I could have my work displayed meticulously like this. I haven't got this many small pieces to my work but I like the idea of everything being perfectly measured and laid out to create a really interesting piece in itself.
Images from 'Things Come Apart: A Teardown Manual for Modern Living'
Julian Wolkenstein
"We view our animals with fondness. We often bestow our animals with human traits, little wigs, clothes, and such. But with such a majestic creature as a horse our reaction is less whimsical, the size and nature of a horse commands respect. They have been alongside humans for so much of our history. The Pony Pin-Up series takes dressing up animals to an extreme. We worked with the horses natural hair and added hair extensions and extensive grooming to produce the final results. Our reaction is mixed. Its not whimsical but it is definitely not serious either. We are left questioning our relation to, and our projections on animals."
www.julianwolkenstein.com
I am interested in whether people's obsessions with hair are irrational and I feel these images explore that. Seeing an animal with done-up human style hair looks humorous and makes you consider whether the amount of time and money we spend on our hair is really necessary. Humans seem to be the only animals that use their hair as a form of identity, beauty and expression. Why is that? Other animals may use it to show health or attract mates, is this why humans do it?
Images from www.horsenation.com
Hendrik Kerstens
Image from www.danzigergallery.com
Mattel
Image from www.huffingtonpost.com
Mattels hairless barbie to be given to children battling cancer aims to reduce the stigma and shame of hair loss related to the disease. For me it asks what is beauty and why is hair so important. Why does hair contribute so much to peoples idea of what is beautiful?
Emer O'Toole
Video from youtube.com
Emer O'Toole challenges peoples perceptions of what is 'attractive' or 'unattractive' hair. Why are women expected to shave their body hair when men aren't? Are men under more pressure to groom themselves and have hair in the right places? Who has a problem with women with body hair and why?
Andy Warhol
I bought the book 'Warhol's Queens' which is a collection of photographs taken by Warhol of drag queens, real queens and himself in drag. I really like the photographs of Warhol and the way his identity and "character" is different with every wig. How much can a hairstyle change your identity? Having had a variety of hairstyles myself I feel like changing your hair can completely change the way people perceive you and how they expect you to behave.
Images from Warhol's Queens
"As late as '67 drag queens still weren't accepted in the mainstream freak circles. They were still hanging around where they'd always hung around – on the fringes ... sticking to their own circles - outcasts with bad teeth and body odour and cheap make-up and creepy clothes. But then, just like drugs had come into the average person's life, sexual burs did, too, and people began identifying a little more with drag queens, seeing them more as 'sexual radicals' than as depressing losers... That's how in '68... people started accepting drag queens - even courting them, inviting them everywhere...” - Andy Warhol
Leonardo da Vinci once said, “Hair is essential to a face as a frame is to a picture.”
J.D. Okhai Ojeikere
Image from www.gallery51.com
Johnson Donatus Aihumekeokhai Ojeikere was a Nigerian photographer who is known for his work with unique hairstyles found in Nigeria. "Hairstyles" will be his most known collection, involving almost 1000 different hairstyles that give an image of the African woman. He finds these "sculptures for a day" on the street, at a marriage or at work. I saw his work in an exhibition at the V&A called 'Staying Power' and this exhibition highlighted to me the important role hair has for black people. Why are black people encouraged to have more western hair?
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JamUncoolfVE
27 May 2017, 6:33 PM
Image from www.magnin-a.com
Image from yagazieemezi.com
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
Video from youtube.com
The importance of hair for hippies etc and the way hair shows you belong to a group. The struggle to be excepted by mainstream society (get a job etc.). Why does certain hair stop people excepting you? What is wrong with long hair or messy hair?
Mummies (Preservation)
Image from purchasereq.tripod.com
Image from mathildasanthropologyblog.wordpress.com
I found the fact that egyptians would take special care to preserve hair when mummifying bodies very interesting. They would use a different substance to coat the hair than the rest of the body and do the hair up in extravagant and time consuming hairstyles. To me this shows how important hair has been throughout history to show all sorts of things such as wealth and status.
Image from iluvsa.blogspot.com
Hair in music
Videos from youtube.com
Psychic Reading of Hair
Image from www.vam.ac.uk
Avril was allowed to touch the hair with her fingers, ungloved.
Here is what she had to say:
– this is a man’s hair. – he was much loved and revered by his family. – a handsome man. – had diverse talents. – horses – kept a stable? – I see him wearing a dressing gown, and he is fond of sitting at the desk, facing out to the garden. – his past time was writing. – Doctor? – very intelligent. – he suffered poor health throughout his life. – there was an incident in this person’s life where he could have lost his life. – age – late 40’s early 50’s….. – I’m getting the name ‘Jock’. – suffered dementia, or cloudy thinking. – there was poor health, in his family or him. – there seemed to be a lot of sport around this person. – I sense two personalities: a tense, straight and irascible person, but also extrememly jolly as well. – engineer? – bridges – astronomy – I’m sensing the period 1900-1905 – there is a link to somebody who discovered something, something to do with medicine. – his wife thought the world of him. – 2 children.
Nuba (Leni Riefenstahl)
Image from www.leni-riefenstahl.de
Hair brings one's self-image into focus; it is vanity's proving ground. Hair is terribly personal, a tangle of mysterious prejudices. - Shana Alexander
Hair Under a Microscope
I really like the colours and shapes in these images. Abstracting the hair. Looking at it in a way you wouldn't be able to with the human eye turns it into something new. Shows different ways hair can be beautiful.
Images from pinterest.com
Image from www.forensicmag.com
Gucci
I like the idea of working with hair on unusual parts of the body and moving away from hair on the head. I really love these shoes because they are so simple but so intriguing and I would like my work to have that kind of aesthetic.
Image from www.vogue.co.uk
Urs Fischer
I have been trapping substances in wax and really like the colours of Fischer's wax sculptures. Does it matter what I trap the hair in? Does it need to have a relevance to the hair or message or can all the focus be on the significance of the hair? Do I want to have multiple substances trapping hair or just one? Will the hair be simple or worked on?
Image from www.mia-janeharris.co.uk
Studio Swine
I really love the Hair Highway work by Studio Swine because of its simplicity. I love the way that from a distance you wouldn't be able to tell that hair is trapped within the resin but up close you can see every strand of hair. The way they are made is really exciting as well and the concept is that hair is a renewable material that should be used practically which I think is really interesting. I would love to be able to create something like this but I don't have the resources or money and therefore will just try to create something equally as interesting and unique. What can I achieve in the time I have? What can I afford? I really want my work to have a polished look in the same way that these are beautifully finished and presented.
Image from www.vam.ac.uk
Kathy Ludwig
Image from www.kingice.com
Cave of the Crystals
Image from nationalgeographic.com
Sabinna
Image from www.sabinna.com
I have been exploring growing crystals in ones hair using "pods" or "capsules" that you would wear in your hair. I love the way these sparkly hairstyles look and would really like to be able to create something similar using my "pods". I doubt I would be able to create a full head like these but if I could do sections of hair I would be pleased. Could I use colours like this or would that damage the hair? Will Borax work in hair without damaging it?
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MichainjennaVT
01 June 2017, 3:54 PM
Image from www.flickr.com
Concept Photography
I really like the simple aesthetic of concept photography and would like my final exhibition display to have this look. I also want the photographs I take of my pieces in Etta's hair to have a clear and simple aesthetic so the concept is easy to understand.
Images from pinterest.com
Link to my Pinterest board:
Heather Dewey-Hagborg
Video from vimeo.com
Dewey-Hagborg's work interests me because it explores how much we can learn about a person from a single strand of their hair. I feel like hair and identity are linked massively, in a visual way but also in a biological way. I would like to look at this is my own work and although I don't really like the "masks" Dewey-Hagborg creates however I like the concept behind her work.
Images from deweyhagborg.com
Fiene Scharp
Image from pinterest.com
Interesting layout and simplicity of Scharp's work. I like the aesthetic of the images and the artworks fragility.
Image from news.artnet.com
Tangled (Rapunzel)
I watched tangled because I was interested in the traditional story of Rapunzel and the importance of her hair. In tangled her hair holds healing powers and a witch uses it to remain young. Is this to do with peoples ideas of hair and youth? Healthy, thick, long hair is youthful and therefore attractive. In the end of the film her hair is cut short and its a huge deal. Why is hair so important to people?
Image from soundtrack-movie.com
The Rapunzel Family
Video from youtube.com
The Seven Sunderland Sisters
Image from www.collectorsweekly.com
The seven Sutherland sisters were the first real "hair celebrities", they became famous for their long, luscious hair and made a fortune selling a tonic that they claimed would make ones hair grow and long and thick as theirs. Why were women so obsessed with having hair like these sisters? What is it about long hair that makes it desirable? Nowadays people still obsess over celebrities hair such as Cheryl Cole or Beyonce.
Image from www.peachridgeglass.com
Dreadlocks
Image from pinterest.com
Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen
Image form www.studentartguide.com
Lilibeth Cuenca Rasmussen’s extreme paintings take on a performance quality: great sweeping actions as hair is dipped in ink; her whole body a painting tool. This work is an interpretation of Janine Antoni’s ‘Loving Care’, in which Antoni soaked her hair with dye and mopped the floor with it. I like the idea of using hair to make a piece of artwork rather than creating something out of hair.
V&A Collection
Image from www.vam.ac.uk
Emotions Cutting Hair
Video from youtube.com
I included this video in my research because of the womans strong emotional reaction to having her cut off even though it was her own decision. Is it the time it takes to grow hair that makes us emotionally attached to it? Is it because of the pressure from society to have long, healthy hair as a woman? Does this mean people only feel attractive when their hair fits into societies idea of what is attractive?
Mr Elbank
Image from mrelbank.tumblr.com
Himba Women
Image from pinterest.com
Givenchy
I really like this photograph for the colour and style of the hair. I feel the hair looks very similar to the hair of the egyptian mummies and I am interested to find out how they created this look.
Image from pinterest.com
Maia Bergman
I've been looking at the precious nature of hair and using beads in my designs and I am really drawn to Bergmans graduate collection. I love this collection and think the combination of colours and intricacy of the designs are really beautiful.
Image from maiabergman.tumblr.com
Unusual Hair
Image from respectthearchitect.tumblr.com
Image from laurengraycar.com
Herb Ritts (Christy Turlington in El Mirage)
Image from www.artnet.com
Stephanie Voegele
Image from www.stephanievoegele.com
Photographer Hal
Image from www.designboom.com
Catalina Brenes
I have been exploring creating something precious with hair to show people's obsessions with hair. I was thinking about creating jewellery pieces and I really like the raw look of Brenes' work and think I may be able to achieve something similar. I have been exploring with growing crystals and the outcomes have looked fairly similar to this. How would I display jewellery?
Images from contemporarty.com
Tokujin Yoshioka
Images from www.tokujin.com
Alexander McQueen
I have been looking at maybe creating a woven fabric that I can grow crystals on. I have been looking at these "woven" hairstyles to see if I could create something similar that would hold the crystals and still look well made and clean.
Images from pinterest.com
Museum für Naturkunde
I was looking at these images for the composition and layout of the jars. I want my final exhibition to have this kind of look because I think the simplicity of colours and shapes is really beautiful. I think laying my work out in this scientific, museum display style will highlight the work and make it look really interesting like sort of artefacts.
Images from www.naturkundemuseum-berlin.de
MHOX
I'm interested in these "pods" designed by MHOX for their concept 'EYE, a 3d bioprinted sight augmentation.' I think the design is really clear and intriguing and their images for the concept are really appealing.
Images from mhoxdesign.com