Next Please
This project, “Next Please” , is a departure for me into the arena of photo documentary. These images are of “Old Style” barbershops and the wonderful era of American culture that they represent.
My enthusiasm for this project is based on the premise that the barbershop was, and still is, an essential social setting unique as a forum for discussions of all types of topics: community issues, politics, sports, religion, and local gossip!
Please Check Out the Next Please book available for purchase.
All of this is confined in a safe setting for expression without hostility. Where else does a little boy “come of age” as he sits on the “board” in the chair for his first haircut under the watchful eye of his father? Or an elderly gentleman, who comes in for his biweekly haircut and spends the day visiting with his neighborhood friends, perhaps listening to a ballgame on the AM radio or watching NASCAR. All the time nurturing his need for community. I have found most barbershops are similar, but what is fascinating is that each is a unique reflection of the barber! While one quotes Dante’s “Inferno” to customers, another shares stories from his days as a member of an East LA Chicano gang in the 50’s!
Because of this, the entity of the barbershop spans a diverse cultural background, making it essential to preserving prior to its extinction. Many of these images were created as a “dreamlike” reflection, seen through windows, mirrors and most importantly, memories. Above all, these images reflect the spirit of these men in the fragments of time that adorn their walls in these wonderful places!
All images were shot with a Hasselblad 503CW and a Hasselblad Flex Body camera with either Tri-X 400 black and white film, or later, a digital back. This series is printed by myself, as archival digital prints using the Epson 7900 and P7000, printed on Hahnemuhle Photorag 308 fine art paper.
