tradition and modernity - ghana hair fashions 1999

the interesting contrast between these two posters gives much fodder for discussion. The Wife picked them up in Ghana a few years back. You'd typically find them in hairdressing saloons advertising the latest styles, strategic and otherwise. Black women spend so much time and money on hair, indeed it is often a touchy topic, fraught with cultural misunderstandings. There are many traditions too, straight or "natural", braided or permed and all the various dichotomies that I try to remain blissfully unaware of. The immediate observation is of the difference in the production values and photography between the two. The photos of the models with straighter hair have been lightened considerably, the cornrow models appear darker even though they are probably the same shade of blue... What is the latent message being depicted? In both cases, there is the same trade-off between maintenance, ongoing discomfort and upfront time and costs.

 

Compare perhaps to the situation in 1969

Done