clara takes photos

Loyce

"The latter half of my twenties have focused on unlearning - unlearning self-hate and negative self-talk, healing from intergenerational traumas, and embracing my identity. Exactly one year ago, I went natural. It is the single most powerful journey I have led myself on.
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Do I still have a long way to go? Hell yes. I still have anxiety around letting people into this (truer) version of myself. I have let my hair dictate the friends I spend time with, based on how I think they’d perceive the change. But I’m learning to block out the noise and other people’s perceptions, and rather focusing on being authentic and truly comfortable in my own skin. Because what I feel inside will always reflect out - sometimes in the most mysterious of ways. Here’s to a lifelong journey of growth."

Johanna

"The way I do my hair will often dictate the way I feel and perceive myself. A shaved head will make me feel extremely sexy, cornrows will make me feel fierce and confident, long braids will make me feel more feminine and my natural afro will simply make me feel like my creative and dynamic self." .
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"La façon dont je coiffe mes cheveux dicte souvent ce que je ressens et comment je me perçois. Avec une tête rasée je me sens extrêmement sexy, les 'cornrows' me donnent une impression de force et de confiance, de longues tresses me font sentir plus féminine et avec mon afro naturel je me sens simplement comme la personne créative et dynamique que je suis."

Idy & Ami

These portraits that are extremely special to me. My siblings and I have been through it all together; from Idy having frosty tips in the 5th grade, Ami and I having our hair relaxed very early on, and learning to love our natural hair, braids, locs, fros, and everything in between. I hope you all enjoy these as much as I do.

Ami — "I don't consider myself as someone who believes that the outside reflects the inside, or vise versa. I’ve always believed that what I looked like on the outside never had any bearing or influence on my identity, and that included my hair. Although, I do somewhat feel the pressures of society to look a certain way. If I truly stopped caring, my hair would be out in it’s most natural form. Maybe in a way, that's a reflection of my identity?

I started noticing my friends hair before my own. I think this caused me to not like my own very much, because I didn’t have any friends with my type of hair. I also thought something was wrong with my hair because my sister had much longer and looser curls than I did. When I started to pay attention, all I wanted was straight hair."

Idy — "At the moment my hair reminds me how patient I need to be at this stage of my life and therefore keeps me grounded, but I wouldn't say that it represents my identity at all. My hair is just an accessory to my true identity.

What we need to understand is that people don’t think with their hair. Hair to me is just a means of expression and creativeness. Black hair is the most versatile and therefore gets the most attention, so it’s normal for it to get the most hate. We’ll deal with it with all its beauty though”

Tumtitu

"Quand j'étais jeune, j'avais cet idéal en tête; d'avoir les cheveux longs et bien bouclés. Je pensais que c'était ça dont j'avais besoin pour me sentir bien, ce qui aujourd'hui n'a aucune importance. C'est en partie grace à mon entourage que tout a changé. J'étais inspirée en voyant mes sœurs, Esther et Rachel, prendre soin et apprécier leurs cheveux naturels. Mais c'est surtout la confiance en soi que j'ai développé, un changement qui était extrêmement personnel."
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"When I was young, I always had an ideal in mind; to have long, curly hair. I believed that's what I needed to feel good in my own skin, which I know now has nothing to do with my happiness, really. I was inspired by my sisters, Esther and Rachel, who took such good care and appreciated their natural hair. However, gaining the self-confidence I have now was a deeply personal and independent journey."

Henrique

"Between my brothers and I, I’m the one with the lightest complexion & they used to make fun of my hair texture because apparently it’s the roughest between us. So I grew up being teased as 'the light skin with rough hair'. Now, I feel like my hair texture is the best visual representation of my blackness - the only physical evidence I have to respond to the constant assumptions that I am mixed race, which isn't what I identify as."

Ester

"I wish people would understand the difficulty we have to face sometimes. Even my own dad, who’s white, who has four mixed race children, doesn’t know much about our hair or how to manage it. He doesn’t understand the political side of black hair. He’s very open and understanding, and he’s willing to listen, but it just doesn't hit home.

There’s only so much I can say to him. Growing up, he never really did me or my sisters' hair, but now I have even younger siblings so I feel more strongly about it, because if there was ever a day where my mom wasn’t there, he wouldn't know the first thing about managing their hair. So I'll try to keep the conversation going, I’ll even do a demo on my little sister’s hair so he can watch and learn. But again, hair is something that’s so overlooked, people don’t see it as something that’s deep - but for black people it very much is, because it’s our reality."

Ari

I met Ari in November last year, after they messaged me asking to take part in the hair portraits (😱). I was thrilled, however during the four months following our shoot, something held be back from sharing their story. Deep down I felt they had a bigger story to tell, and that it maybe wasn't the right time...
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"I used to always straighten my hair. I can't believe that I was putting in so much time and effort to essentially 'kill' my hair. Because I straightened it for so long, I didn't even know my hair's natural state, so I couldn't see how it could look beautiful. Looking back now, I can't see myself ever going back - I love my natural hair. It takes up space, and I'm making this space my own." (November, 2018)

... until March this year, when Ari did their big chop. That's when I knew the time had come.
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"Shaving my head was a bold move made at 2 am on a Monday morning - of course, I was slightly apprehensive. Will I look like an egg? Does my head have a weird shape? Will I regret it? The answer is no to all of these questions. I feel like this hairstyle suits me better than any other.
I identify as nonbinary/genderqueer/gender fluid... whatever you wanna call it. I loved my long hair but I felt uncomfortable being immediately classed as 'feminine'. I feel more like myself when I adopt an androgynous aesthetic... and hair grows back!" (June, 2019)

Medulla

"I used to watch these makeover shows where they would improve people's appearances. If a black woman was on the show, for example, and she had her natural hair, the transformation would be to straight hair which subliminally would make me think that straight hair equates to beauty."

Oumaïma

"I didn't always have curly hair. I used to straighten my curls to fit in with society. Growing up in Morocco, most of the girls had straight long hair so I used to feel quite different. I couldn't find any products that fit my curly needs and hairdressers would never waste too much time on me and would suggest to chemically relax instead. However, once I moved to the UK everything changed. I met people who showed me how to style my hair, which products to use and not use. It was one of the best feeling ever. Now I love my hair and I wouldn't change it for anything."

Udoka

"I wish people loved their hair more. I wish mothers loved their daughters’ hair more, and didn’t feel the need to change it or straigthen it, because that’s where self-love comes from. If someone like your mom is trying to change you, then you’re automatically going to think there’s something wrong with you. My mom relaxed my hair when I was 4, so I never even realised that I could have an afro, I just thought that was my hair. Then I realised wait, I can look like Solange?!"

Maryam

"En grandissant, la tendance c'était les cheveux lisses. J'étais vraiment complexé par ça. Toutes les filles autour de moi avaient les cheveux lisses et j'étais toujours la seule avec des boucles."
–"Donc, tu te lissais les cheveux?"
–"Non, non. Jamais."

Hal

"My hair is a pretty integral part of my identity. It draws a lot of attention, which I get. I guess it’s not everyday that you see a mixed guy with orange hair. People are always asking me if it’s my natural hair colour. It’s super strange when people think I am albino though, which has happened pretty frequently. I don’t get offended but I just wonder if I really look that different to the point where people think I have pigmentation disorder. One time a guy in Australia, who was a music producer was willing to pay me to be in a music video because he said I had an “albino vibe” which was very “trendy” in the creative arts and media. It was super bizarre" .