Lessons

Lesson Info

Theme: Hair

That's so Zia a little bit held. Those collections become larger and larger, drawing from all these different cultures around the world. And while I'm working on those cultures that could be doing a book on a dormant or lifestyle. But I have this parallel body of work that is being developed as I go. So how I started this out, I said that I'm amortizing the costs. It makes complete sense. If you're spending money to go and shoot one subject, it makes perfect sense to shoot 34 even five subjects. As long as you come up with very clean distinctions between the body of the work. Now, while I'm traveling, traveling in those cultures, I might be working on hair. And over the years, hair becomes a theme and I'm gonna show you a little bit about that as well. So I'm I'm really showing you exactly how I'm working. I'm not making up, you know, subject to kind of take up your time this morning. This is exactly the way I work here. We're in the mountains of Ethiopia visiting the sermon people and...

the sermon people again have very little belongings. They were ah, is a very comfortable climate. They haven't developed the custom of wearing a lot of clothes. Ah, their huts are very ephemeral. They break the hearts down. They move into the next mountain valley, so it doesn't behoove them. It doesn't make sense for them to develop solid housing structures, and they don't have walls from which they hang paintings. Uh, so artwork is manifested in itself in the way they adorn themselves during ceremonial occasions or more, obviously, in their hairstyles. And so they developed a great variety of hairstyles in the remote tribes along the Omo River in the mountains of southeast Ethiopia. And so I started photographing the cultures. They're about 12 years ago when I was working on a book called Tribes, which was indeed a celebration of how sophisticated the personal body adornment becomes in remote cultures throughout the world, whether it's Ethiopia or South America or the mountains of Asia. I was there photographing this cultural dormant, and now it's becoming a body that specifically how people do their hair. Now it sounds pretty drive. It is. You'll see. It becomes pretty interesting. It's it's a sign of uniqueness. You know, this man may have that hairstyle, and he's the only one in in the entire village. So it's a way of showing how he's individual. They don't again how clothing that shows that individual style, but the hair is a way of manifesting itself, so not only hair but the hairstyle. This man is a Carl tribesmen, and they will cut the hair off their father, who may have passed away because the father has were warned, a hair of cap made out of clay. And it's just part of their style with the ostrich plume. And if that his father passes on, they may cut off that little click cap and attach it to his hair and build it and grow it and be part of it. Is his father's life very different? The Homer People of Ethiopia used a mixture of oil and the beautiful red brokers of the clay along the banks of the Omo River, and it's both a way of preserving their hair. It's a way of having a cultural distinction from the other tribes that are in the same region, and it's very elegant. I typically will photograph my poor trades with a dark background. You can imagine in the deserts of Ethiopia. Yeah, this very strong equatorial sun. And so I often placed the subject. I'm photographing in the shade of the hut's entrance with a dark background of the interior hut, and it becomes a very easy, clear way of photographing beautiful portray. It's using the reflective light of the really contrast the sun. But just a few feet away in the shadows becomes a beautiful bounce light, so you'll see that throughout a lot of the work I do. Or in the late afternoon, As the sun becomes very low to the risin, it softens and gives texture to the skin of these very beautiful people. So looking at the hair in the various incarnations of how they adorn themselves, the coup Melo, where I just waas, also is a mine field full of subjects. Because the Nagas adduced the naked holy man will often grow their hair in very long lengths. They'll never cut their hair. And so, within a body of people like this, you'll have a lot of different elements and very distinctive styles. As you'll see, uh, they very much looked like the Jamaican Rastafarians, and in fact, I think it all came from India. Originally so said dues will have tents and you can see just the beautiful, colorful backdrops from which I work. That man has very long hair. This man has very long hair again. Assad do in India. His hair is virtually his clothing. I mean, he can undo his the bun on top of his head. And the hair will be as long as his body never have cut his hair in his life again. The seduce often rub themselves in ash in very hot conditions that protects the skin is part of their cultural identity. This man also has white gray hair. So it's a very flat, ghost like figure that I loved a love to work with. This was just shot a couple of days ago. As I was leaving the Coombe, I saw this man walking down. I never saw what he looked like from the front, but it was when those shots where his hair is the exact length of his body and as young boys passing, he's kind of looking back at him. India has great hair. I mean, there's this tradition that I've seen in Pakistan and India, where they dye their hair orange and orange is a very, ah, classic color of the Hindu faith. You see that in the robes and in the miracles that they adorn themselves with is are these brilliant orange and I'm not quite sure of the cultural significance. But it's ubiquitous throughout the Hindu faith, the color of orange. So it doesn't surprise me at all that the men would, uh, dye their hair of this color facial hair again. India. I could just do this entire body of work just from India alone. Can you imagine that? This is a man that is standing outside our hotel actually out in Roger Stand. And I've never quite seen a mustache quite like that so seduced. This one is actually up in Katmandu. Ah, in Nepal, this is shaving the hair in India and, uh ah, young boy from above in, um, Africa. So this is in Western Africa in the country of Mali. So it's just very interesting to me to see how people express their individuality in the styles of the hair. This is an aboriginal in, um, Australia North in our homeland, India again. And this is a man that eyes what was He recently passed away, but he was an elder spokesman for the aboriginal peoples of Australia. He became quite a famous writer and poet and very distinctive style is, you see, had a good life. But boy, those tribes of Ethiopia have such a great variety to work with amazing necklaces on the people as well. And then some will ball up. You know what? Using clay, and they'll have these just amazing decorations. So it can't help but make you a ah stronger observer of what's around you. When you have these collections and ideas, you go out with clearer I eyes. And there's nothing more frustrating than to come away from time spent in the field without anything in your camera. I love the way the's themes help me find these things. You know, if I'm walking down the street if I wasn't, you know, thinking about a hair Ah, I might not have seen this. You know where I might have not captured it. So I love these ideas. They just become breeding grounds for the more you photographed, the more you see. And it's really about that seeing this subjects old men and their beards. Beautiful Bettina to skin the shine on this man's face. This is actually in, um, a small village in Cuba and Cuba for Americans is no man's land for us. Our government actually penalizes people that go there without special permits. I went there anyways, I got my fine, but I had a great time. People of Cuba really love Americans, and they're so photogenic. Nobody ever refused to allow me to photograph. Um and, uh, I go back in a heartbeat and I think that nonsense about not allowing us to go there will fall by the wayside. As Obama really addresses that, I'm sure it will go away here again in Havana, Cuba Smoking Havana, Cuban Cigar The Donny people of Verrengia again use oil and charcoal to during their hair. And that is a very typical hair style of the Donny people. Ah, they often where pig tusks in their nose and Penis. Goard's on their waist. And that's it. That's their style. Very nice people. Scarification could be yet another idea. I could use scarification and ah, body tattooing and bring those together as a team. So that could be the hatching of a new idea. The whole idea is to avoid having the equivalent of what we call writer's block. There's nothing sadder than ah photographer that has all the equipment in the world and not an idea to use. So, uh, my backgrounds, painting and art, uh, I learned to be creative and not and to photograph without prejudice. In other words, when I'm photographing, every subject becomes, ah, viable potential subject to me. I don't go out there thinking of myself as, ah wildlife photographer or a cultural photographer. I find everything ah, possible subject and going without prejudice allows more subjects to reveal themselves. And the more I'm accepting of an idea, the more I have subjects to photograph. So all these are women from New Guinea and Ethiopia and beautiful people. I mean just great subjects to work with the home Erman also have very distinct styles. As you see here, they often have other elements within their hair with this medal or feathers or beads. This is a man s a do that is ah, burning duck Calle done around themselves and is very hot, very smoky. And it's part of their tradition to do this the more uncomfortable they are, the more that they emotionally, physically can put up with uncomfortable, the better chances they're able to reach in Iran A. And that's the entire goal of the seduce is to demonstrate that they can live a lifestyle of, ah, discomfort and, uh, you know, of sacrifice and bites. By doing that, they have a better chance of reaching their version of Heaven or Nirvana. But I think most of my work is either Africa or Ethiopia. So, uh, at this point, look at this guy. What a character. He's covered in clay and very distinctive dreadlocks, and he's taking a bath in the Ganges. Here's another. So do beautiful red color to his hair and a behind the view looking towards the Ganges. So, you know, with that hairstyle, you can do a lot of different things as you can in America. So I think a lot of the outrageous hairstyles we see here are often originated in the primitive cultures around the world. Or at least that's how they get their start, whether it's earrings or a piercing of the years which we've seen in the tribes of the Ethiopia nose rings all that really originally and originated in remote cultures. So the drag queen in San Francisco, beautiful hair and some models. I was doing a workshop with Greg Gorman, and we hired a couple models to come in and pose and eso Here you have these models. These are Himba tribespeople in Namibia and very distinctive braids that come down. And that's their cultural identity. Again, you know, it's using the braided look. They always mix clay and soil from the fire. And that's the style. And some of these photos embroiling borrowing from the earlier works. Tribes, which was really showing the colorations and this lady is just as beautiful as it can get. And she's using all those different colors or derived from various clay outcroppings along the river. So you have yellow and okra and blue. The blue is coming from Berries in the bushes along the river, their skins from the animals that they raise. They've got beads that they probably traded from other tribes closer to civilization, and here she is just as elegant and beautiful as you can be. Earrings, those little balls at play. I placed this lady in front of the dark hut and again simplified What is a very complex portrait? This is a man from the Carl community, late afternoon light and I think back over the years how lucky I have been to see so many cultures. Many of these cultures air changing. Fortunately, the tribes of Ethiopia are still intact. It's very difficult to get out there, and they have. There's no reason, really for them to change their style and their cultural identity. I would like to pay homage to these folks. You know, the really show him in a beautiful, uplifting way. And I'm just going to close with some of the more distinctive styles. This is in Benin, West Africa. What a an amazing hairstyle. I mean you can on it obviously takes a lot of time, a lot of effort to do hairstyles This elaborate. And what I generally am doing is working with a guide that speaks the language. I'll isolate individual from a crowd. Asked if I could photograph him, Uh, always, they say yes. In fact, they're pretty honored. If you spend that much time working on your hair style, I'm sure having a foreign person asked to photograph it is, in fact, a compliment. generally, money never exchanges hands unless I'm really doing quite elaborate shoot and all making offering. And I think that's a the least I can do for these folks. Offer him a little bit of money for their time and effort. It actually becomes them a financial transaction. And I could use those photographs then for advertising. If I got a signature for most of the work I'm doing, I'm just photographing them for editorial purposes. And so having a signed release is not necessary in terms of culture are in editorial purposes. I'm still suffering a little bit from jet lag. Ah, a couple of last photos. This is one of my favourite. This man's worked in this little wire. Um um, whatever it ISS. But it's just that man is obviously very proud of his style and that little off centered, Buoying thing. It just looks so goofy and so interesting. In India, if a man has lost his father or somebody his family, they'll shave their head, except for a ah, lock of hair. And it's just a way of honoring the deceased. I shot this last week in, uh, a young boy. It just looks like a melon with a little tough to hair was so funny