This Exhibit Perfectly Captures The Black Hair Experience

Photo: Adama JallohIf you’re a brown girl or good friends with one, then you understand just how sacred the beauty salon is. Its purpose goes far beyond hair maintenance; it’s where we can exchange stories, connect to those inside our culture and feel comfortable sans makeup, weave and otherwise.

As the neighborhoods these salons occupy gentrify or sadly disappear, artists are making an extra effort to preserve their existence by way of photographs. Adama Jalloh is making waves for her latest series, “Identity,” a grainy black and white look at the versatility of black hair.

“I wanted people to remember what it was like to go the salon to get their hair done,” she tells Buzzfeed. “This was me wanting wanting people to remember how they used to do their hair.”

Photo: Adama Jalloh
Most of the photos feature younger black women, who weren’t as reluctant as their elders when being photographed. However, you’ll quickly notice that the focal point of these images is the action itself and not the individuals.

“It would have been cool to have more faces in it,” she adds, “but by the end I was focusing more on the actual ways our hair was being done and trying to tell a story about that.”

Jalloh–a recent Arts University Bournemouth photography graduate–also won the British Journal of Photography’s Breakthrough Award in May 2015, where several other exhibits were highlighed; including a moving series focused on Black and Asian boys likely to be stopped by police for their appearance.

If you live in the London area, see Adama’s photos in person at the Black British Girl exhibition until August 5. Read more about the “Identity” project over at Buzzfeed.

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