Hairy tales

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The long, lustrous and dark hair portrayed so frequently by the zillion hair-care product advertisements is fast becoming a rare commodity. Kabul-based French photographer, Oriane Zerah realised that hair, which is hardly visible among the Kabuli women, can give out bold and striking messages.

Three years ago, on a trip to cities like Cochin, Jaipur and Jodhpur, she was highly attracted to the beautiful hair possessed by Indian women and thus germinated the idea of her latest exhibition, Something About Hair.
“Hidden, revealed or thinned out, hair is a sign of seduction, strength and power. Mop of hair, undone or braided is loaded with carnal and erotic dimensions. In western societies, the women cover their head while entering the church, so as not to disturb the angels with their hair. In Islam, the woman has to hide her hair in public not to arouse desire. Hair has a story to tell and I wanted to convey it through my pictures,” explains Oriane. The exhibition has woman from various part of India, dressed in white or red, displaying various qualities of hair in a series of 40 to 45 photographs.
Often traveling to various parts of the subcontinent, including Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, Oriane is fond of capturing human faces and figures. “I have always felt that human faces shot from close range convey a lot of emotions. I do not like taking long shots of sceneries much. And staying in Kabul, there is not much scope, when it comes to sceneries,” says Oriane. She informs that her latest exhibition was the result of about 6 months of traveling the length and breadth of India, hunting for women with great hair, who would pose.
Oriane first traveled to the Indian subcontinent in 2001 and fell in love with the culture, colour and the people. Capturing human expressions at different times and spaces, she has already held exhibitions in Paris, Jaipur and Kabul. But Something about Hair is a completely novel endeavour. “Having a nomadic lifestyle helps one to investigate, feel, immerse and understand the cultural and social connotations of various facets of human. Hair is something that has the power to imply great many things like freedom, struggle and power. Hope the city audience is able to interpret all that,” she concludes.