Saturday morning at the hairdressers; a snap shot of hair salons across London

image

Info

Comments

• 

• I’ve been fascinated by this hairdressers for the last three years.  For two of them I passed it on the bus each morning on my way to work. It was always open early. And often there would be a little old lady under the dryer.  Its so run down and with this recession, I’ve been intrigued that its still trading.

  

  This summer, when I was on the BT ArtBox hunt, I realised I would be passing it on foot and could photograph it. Alas by 4pm it was closed!  But close up, I was able to read the name over the door.  And I never expected it to be called  Charlies Angels.  Was there any irony in this?  Had it opened in the late 70s, early 80s?  Did they do big hair styles back then?  Did first the blue rinse ladies giggle to each other under the dryer, that they were now Charlie’s angels too?  Maybe the owner was called Charlie.  For anyone feeling nostalgic, here’s a clip of the opening credits and theme song.  Kate, Farah and Jaclyn were ladies with great hair.

  So this morning, returning to my theme of shops, I thought it would be fun to photograph Charlies Angels after the excess of the Selfridges window displays.  It was open and as I approached I saw the woman in the window (shown in the featured image) forlornly looking out for customers.  It was nearly 11am when many women get their hair done.  I crossed the road and confirmed that the shop was empty.  The woman had vanished into the back as she’d seen me with my camera.   For once the reflections were not what I wanted.  But I rather like this one of the dryers because it also shows the flats across the road where I expect many of the customers live.

  

  I left the shop feeling rather disappointed after so many years of anticipation.  When I changed buses at Dalston Junction, all I kept noticing were shops selling hair and beauty products, mostly for the african-carribean women who live around there.

  

  And then this morning’s project emerged. I would photograph all the hairdressers I could find on my way to my destination in a very different, much more affluent area of London.  I hope you enjoy them.  (& click on a photo to switch to gallery mode)