J.D. ‘OKHAI OJEIKERE, NIGERIAN PHOTOGRAPHER:SARTORIAL MOMENTS AND THE NEARNESS OF YESTERDAY

 June 20th - September 29, 2013

J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere aka Ojomu Emai

Photographs leave traces of your passage to everyone• The work of Okeikere has two purposes:

▫Document examples of hairstyles which are an art form in themselves.

▫Esthetic project: I have formed a collection of hairstyles created by one person, worn by another and photographed by a third.

• A collection built over three decades where each photo can exist independently

Gelatin Silver Prints – process in place since 1878The Gelatin-silver process is the photographic

process used with black and white films and printing papers.

A suspension of silver salts in gelatin is coated onto acetate film or resin coated paper and allowed to dry (dry plate). These materials remain stable for months and years unlike the 'wet plate' materials that preceded them.

ONILE GOGORO OR AKABA – The name refers to tall building or ladder. The style is worn by all for special society events HD 275/75 (HD hairdo or hairstyle: number of first shot/year taken)

A MILLION BRAIDS - The name refers to the numerous braids, mainly for the youth, for everyday use. HD 1099/99

SIKU ELEYO- A version of Suku with a very interesting zigzag parting. Worn by women of distinction for very special occasions HD 213/70

“Context and names of hairstyles are not important and don’t influence our enjoyment” Ojeikere

• Ojeikere has collected over 1000 hairstyles (photographs), always asking:▫ permission before taking the photograph and collecting

data; where the hairstyle is from, it’s meaning, name and history

• People were fascinated with hairstyle photographs as research material- University of Lagos sent a research assistant to travel the country for three months to collect as precisely as possible all information about hairstyles.

• 100’s of ethnic groups in Nigeria each with it’s own language, traditions and hairstyles

“Photographs are both a memory of the past and a witness to a culture in constant evolution.”

The Lorain Horizon Science Academy in Ohio

“Afro-puffs and small twisted braids, with our without rubberbands, are NOT permitted. “ 6/13 http://blackgirllonghair.com

Dirk Valkenburg, "Slave Play" on a Sugar Plantation in Surinam, 1706-8

Tignon Laws (pronounced tiyon) 1785 This headdress was required by Louisiana Tignon laws in 1785 prescribed appropriate public dress for females of color in colonial society, where some women of color & some white women tried to outdo each other in beauty, dress, ostentation and manners.

In an effort to maintain class distinctions in his Spanish colony at the beginning of his term, Governor Esteban Rodriguez Miró (1785 - 1791) decreed that women of color, slave or free, should cover their heads with a knotted headdress and refrain from "excessive attention to dress.

“Mandatory headwear for Creole women in Louisiana during the Spanish colonial period, and the style was adopted throughout the Caribbean island communities as well.

1795 - Painting from the Historic New Orleans Collection.

The gele/headties/wraps have a long cultural history both in Africa and within the African Diaspora. 1786 Quebec Canada 1796 Rachel Pringle

Barbados

Gele is a Yoruba word for headwrap

The Yoruba people are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa, numbering between 30 and 50 million have a long history of design.

Gele’s compliment a women’s attire, and can compensate for a not so great looking outfit

Similar to hairstyles gele’s are created for multiple occasions and represent families and cultures.

•Celebrations•Ceremonial•Social position in family•Becoming an adult•Preparing for marriage

•Royal families have their own stylist which cannot be imitated, a mark of distinction which command respect. The styles are often transferred from mothers to daughter .

Nina’s family attending a wedding in Nigeria

Woman wearing a gele in Nigeria

J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere signing Shiree’s book

Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan ParksPhotographs at h is Centennial

The Fontanelle Family

American Gothic - 1942

Emerging Man Harlem 1952

Ethel Shariff in Chicago 1963

Author and Screenwriter