Seven decades of hair showcases the evolution of black hair, society's views on it and the evolution of how news is spread.
This is the first page of the zine, which I made into a vintage 20s newpaper. The illustration is of me with Finger Waves, which were a popular hairstyle among black women in this decade.
This page represents the 40s, which I also made into a vintage newspaper mainly because this is the way news would travel around during this era.
During the 50s, the main standard of beauty was light skin for black women. I decided to create an ad poster for a made-up and controversial product, a skin AND hair lightening cream.
This page represents both the 60s and 70s. The black panther movement began in the late 60s and that was when Afros became a symbol of unity and black power. The 'fro was seen as controversial and intimidating by the Caucasians and so this poster consists of words used by the Caucasians, at the time, to describe the afro.
Vogue 1985 Issue
The 80s was big on hair, a lot fo body and volume was what hair was. The 80s was also the prime time of Vogue magazine. As views and hairstyles on black hair started to change around this time, it saw the rise of many more black artists, actors and tv personalities.
This poster is of 90s with an MSN chat in the background on a windows PC. All of which embody everything the 90s was.
@girlwithbraids
Nowadays, everything is on social media. I created this poster as an instagram post to show where we are now with black hair. After all the struggle, our hair is finally its own beauty standard. Our hair is no longer seen as controversial, intimidating, unruly, messy etc. Our hair is seen as unique and beautiful.
