Perception

I was asked by a hairdresser friend to take photos of her clients with dreadlocks..

She got the 7 women together, ages ranging from late sixties to early forties, and we set up a make shift studio out the back of her salon.

 

My first thoughts when I see or think of dreadlocks, is dirty, hippie, alternate lifestyle. You get my drift....well how wrong was I.

So yes they are a bit hippie but I'm a bit country so who am I to judge and yep they have an alternate lifestyle but alternate in the sense that they care for the planet and want to sustain and look after it as long as possible. The dirty part I got completely wrong. These woman really care about their looks and appearance and dirty they are not.

 

I was curious to find out, why? Why dreadlocks? What did they mean to them? and What made them decide to get them?

 

What I found out is that these dreadlocks give these woman confidence and made them believe they can be the person they want to be.

I found out they are extremely self-conscious not just about their looks but about their abilities but by having the dreads somehow gives them the confidence to believe in themselves.

 

I guess we are all the same and most of us internalize our insecurities where these women externalize it.

 

I also found out that they didn't want to be ordinary.

 

The session opened my eyes and made me realise that my perception of things isn't always right. I got to know these woman in the 6 hours we had together and I got to know a side of them that I hope I was able to get across with a photo. As much as the shoot was all about the hair, it turned into something far more complex.

 

*To get dreads like this a person would have to sit 12 hours in the hairdressers chair. I for one couldn't do it. Half an hour in the chair is 25 minutes too long.

Done