Since the beginning of time, hair has retained great significance and has been deeply intertwined with identity. Hair symbolizes memories, strength, freedom, and in classic iconography, is associated with divine beauty, the Feminine, care, and sisterhood. Wigs mimic this relationship between identity and hair, allowing people to experiment with different personas, hide from their true selves, and reveal new, changing identities.
Wigs can be both eerie and liberating, The hairpieces created by the hair artist are captured on the heads of young New Yorkers, portrayed in urban surroundings. With intricate embroidery-like braids, Created in collaboration with makeup artist , stylist , and producer , this shoot depicts the urban landscape and its inhabitants shaping their personalities through the city: the hairpieces serve both as a filter and a protection from the world, as well as a manifesto of a new, transitional identity. This project evokes : it's summer, you go out with friends, take the train without a precise destination, play on the basketball courts, bike in the neighbourhood, and think that this feeling will last forever.
Beneath the joy and cheerfulness, this collaborative project holds a deeper significance: it reminds us of the suspended times we lived during the pandemic when we covered our faces with masks and sacrificed our needs for social and intimate relations. Ramona Wang playfully overturns this connotation without ignoring it: the photographs are eerie but.
