Wash With Care
A photography project celebrating the diverse journeys of people of color to embrace their natural curls and move beyond Eurocentric standards of beauty in America. In the process of interviewing our photo subjects we found that freedom was a common theme, however it meant different things to different people. For some, freedom meant letting their hair grow while for others it meant cutting it off. But for everyone, it was about breaking free from how you're "supposed" to wear your hair and doing exactly what you want.
Art Direction : Esmi Rennick
Photography: Elizabeth Bayne
Edward
Huntington Beach, CA
"I also stopped putting things in my hair, stopped using shampoo and Murray's or any hair gel. A good hair day is me having enough time to get it together... I like the historical significance of an afro. Understanding what that means, loving yourself and loving your hair. I won’t go shorter than this."
Dawn
Buffalo, NY
“I had an afro for about fifteen years, like before everybody else was doing it… I will probably go back to being natural at some time, but I’m kind of enjoying the braids… I’m not entirely a fan of the synthetic hair. But then... I don’t appreciate the idea of using natural hair, because of the way that it’s procured. So, I’m kind of in this dilemma.”
Tiffany
Belleville, IL
"My relationship to the word “good hair” is very complicated... my hair wasn’t mixed hair or super pretty curls like my cousins or other family members. So for me, I was like I don't have that hair, so my only choice is to relax it... now my relationship to “good hair” is whatever hair you have is good hair as long as you know how to take care of it... So that’s what I’m working on now."
Matt
Los Angeles, CA
"I was traveling and didn’t trust any barber to cut my hair in Europe…so I just kept growing it out… I’d never really experimented with growing my hair out… Feels good. I get a lot of compliments. I like it."
Dan
Mechanicsville, VA
“Cutting it down was me not having a good relationship with my hair... I would just cut it like you were cutting grass to try to get it under control. I call this an homage to the past with a twist, literally... it’s a very intentional Egyptian beard. Looking at Egyptian sculptures, I liked the… triangular shape. It’s dynamic. Hopefully... when people see my hair, I want them to see a connection to my past.”
Elizabeth
Hampton, VA
“My mom would cornrow my hair and I used to be mad at first because all the other little girls would have pigtails with the little balls at the end. Or they'd have bangs and I wanted bangs so bad… but now I'm kind of glad that my mother would have me wear my hair like that. It gave me a thicker skin, in terms of not needing my hair to look like everybody else’s.”
Issachar
New York, NY
“I think that’s something that I’m alway negotiating, not only how I understand myself, but how I’m digested by other people. I used to think that that was really silly until I got into the workforce and realized… you don't want to be the center of the conversation all the time.”
LaCora
Jacksonville, FL
“I love the hair that I have right now and I'm happy with it because, I like volume, I like big hair... as long as I have some kind of poof or sha pop in the front, I’m great.”
Mia
Los Angeles, CA
"I’ve been wearing my hair this way pretty much my whole life. It really only works one way, which is long… I remember once when I was 10 or 11, my mother and I took the clippers and we clipped it all off... to have one of those Drew Barrymore pixie cuts with the little barrette... (but mine) was just like a little curly Betty Crocker housewife, 50-year old woman hairstyle. It didn’t look pixie or sexy, so it didn’t work out. I think for me it’s just about accepting what you have and working it.”
Nicolette
Miami, Florida
"I first cut it in 2008- and that was great. And then I was like- ugh, I want long hair now. So I grew it- and that was fun. Then with this whole feminist thing going on right now…I’m like, ‘Hey, who am I really growing my hair out for?’ Like, my hair’s for me. So I cut it and it feels great...I love it.”
Esmi
Tehachapi, CA
“Before this, I used to actually have it long past my shoulders. I barely wore it out though. I finally got tired of having to deal with it. So I chopped it all off. Best decision I ever made.”