Hair Wars by David Yellen, Johanna Lenander

Product Details

Synopsis

Remote controlled hairy-copters, an eight-foot-wide hawk, a birthday cake spouting confetti, a working barbeque grill, a Bible made of hair-these are just a few creations featured in Hair Wars, David Yellen's jaw-dropping collection of portraits taken at the touring American showcase of the same name. Combining advanced styling techniques, countless pounds of human hair extensions, and irrepressible imagination, these proudly outrageous coiffures take the time-honored tradition and culture of African American hairstyling out of the beauty parlor and onto the runway.

Founded by David Humphries, a.k.a. "Hump the Grinder," in the nightclubs of Detroit during the mid-80s, the "hair off" events started out as "Wednesday Night Hair Connection," a weekly party. By 1994, the event had grown into a national showcase that toured the country, visiting cities including New York, Los Angeles, and Miami, as well as hometown Detroit. At these "hair entertainment" events, professional stylists battle each other with wildly innovative designs. Just as colorful as their creations, the stylists sport eccentric signature looks and eclectic stage names. Hair Wars stylists push themselves to create bigger, bolder, and more bodacious 'dos at every show. But this is not a competition-it is a showcase of some of the most incredible talent and design this country has ever seen.

Biography

David Yellen was born in 1972 in Bayside, Queens. He graduated from SUNY Purchase in 1997. In 2004 he published Too Fast For Love: Heavy Metal Portraits (powerHouse Books, 2004). That same year he discovered Hair Wars at a spectacular event at the Apollo Theatre. Since then, he has traveled across the country to document the hairstylists and the styles that they create. Yellen's photographs have appeared in publications like Time, Fortune, People, ESPN, and Best Life. He lives in New York with his wife and dog, Rocky the Bear. Johanna Lenander is a New York-based design and fashion writer whose work has appeared in publications like i-D, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, and New York magazine.