If the clothing we wear is our uniform, then our hair is our crown. How we wear our hair is a statement, the fur up top. It can say more about us than words could ever manage. It offers clues into age, ethnic background, health, vocation, gender, where one has been, where one intends to go, and what one desires.
Ladies, I ask you, can you recall the last time you were flirting with a guy, when you were feeling his game and it occurs to you he might actually be cute… Then he takes his hat off, and you get an eye full the extent of his rapidly receding hairline, something along the lines of pathetic wispy hairs barely clinging to a visibly balding scalp? How did you feel about him then? That’s the power of hair!
This project is dedicated to our fascination with hair, specifically ‘Mussy Hair,’ and what kind of response that particular manner of hairstyle elicits. How does one’s hair become mussy? Driving in a convertible with the top down? Heavy making out? Restless sleep, the by-product of which is the notorious bed-head?
The objective is to examine the impact of one’s hair, first as it is, kept neatly; then as it could be, mussy.
Guidelines:
- Take a photograph of yourself, or have someone else take a photograph of you, portrait style. Use a Hi-res format. If digital, minimum 300 dpi, 6″ x 4″ (72 dpi, 16.667″ x 25″). Take this photo in front of a neutral or blank backdrop. This is your ‘control,’ the initial manner you usually wear your hair.
- Now, with your hands, or someone else’s, or a utensil of your choosing, mess your hair up. Spend as long as it takes. Massage your scalp and dig in. It should be a pleasant sensation. Do not use water or any hair product at this point. Utilize only what is present. No special effects. Naturally, static electricity will build and your hair will develop a unique body and shape. Have fun sculpting your new hair helmet.
- Take the second photograph, in as close to same posture as you were in the first photo.
- Email, or mail me the ‘before’ and ‘after’ photographs. Contact me for mailing address. Acceptable formats are CDs, prints, and negatives. Include contact information: Email Address and Mailing Address, Phone # optional.
*see below for example.
The collection of these photos will serve as the the source material for a publication detailing this project. If your submission is accepted, you will receive a confirmation email. Updates on the book’s progress will be posted, and once printed, you will be sent a complimentary copy.
Good luck! Happy Mussing.
Questions? or If you are ready to submit your photos: Contact Me
- Cody Pickrodt
March 8, 2009