lenscratch!

I am so happy to be featured on Aline Smithson's wonderful blog, Lenscratch, today. Please check it out here.

a cool thing happened

At the opening of my Barbershop show last week, I met the wife of Kansas City Mayor Sly James. We had a nice conversation about various things, and then she suggested that I go to Sly's barbershop and photograph him getting his hair cut. It was a place I had not been to yet and was glad to learn of another old-school Black-owned shop. When we parted, we exchanged email addresses, and she told me she'd give me a heads up next time the Mayor needed a cut and shave.

I decided to go to the barbershop in advance to check it out. It was indeed a very cool, older shop. I spent an hour or so chatting with the owner and photographing the 73-year old who was in his chair.

Here is my favorite.

I was interviewed for an article about the show this past week (I think it's going to be in next Thursday's paper). I found myself talking about the fact that I love when an image transcends the actual real thing that is going on. When I manage to make that happen, I am a happy camper photographer. Keith Carter put it this way during a critique I was having in one of his workshops: "Gloria, don't SHOW me what's happening. Make me WONDER what's happening."

That's sort of hard to do when you're approaching a project from a"documentary" style, but still I long for those images to present themselves every now and then no matter what I'm working on.

At the very end of the cut and shave, the barber sprayed his client's head with a product that promotes "shine." This has happened at every single haircut I've witnessed since I began the project. So, I know to be ready and to prepare myself for that grand finale - and I can only hope I'll get something interesting. Something that doesn't resemble a man getting his head sprayed while he's sitting in a barber chair. Something that becomes something else entirely. It's luck, really, because I can't actually see his face for all the aerosol that's raining down. I can only hope that the photo goddesses are smiling down on me for those few moments.

In this case, I think they might have been :)

some barbershop photos and a website update

Here are some of the barbershop photographs that are included in my show at the EthnicArt Gallery. I've just finished adding this body of work (there are many others to see), as well as the Swimming Pool pictures, to my website. I've updated several other portfolios, too. You can check it out here!

"conversation on troost" opening

Last night was the opening of my show with painter Harold Smith. It was wonderful to be among such a diverse, lively and interesting group of people. Thanks to all of you who attended. I hope you enjoyed the work, as well as the fried catfish.

My friend Mark, who is pictured above with his cameras, just sent me his shots form the opening. They are fabulous! You can see them here. Thank you, Mark!

onnie

One of the best things about being a photographer is learning about new people and their situations. The barber shop project has been the perfect project for doing just that. I have enjoyed every minute of talking with the customers and barbers and making photographs in their spaces.

Onnie is one of the oldest working barbers in Kansas City. He doesn't look it, but he's almost 70. He's a lovely man, and I've become rather fond of him. If you come to the opening Friday night at the EthnicArt Gallery (5930 Troost, from 6 - 9 PM) you'll see photographs of him, his shop and customers and read a bit about his story. You might also get to meet the man himself, one of the most recognized and beloved barbers in the area. He promised me he'll be there.

new work: hope you can make it to the show!

CONVERSATION ON TROOST
photographs by Gloria Baker Feinstein
paintings by Harold Smith

opening reception
May 30th
6 - 9 PM
EthnicArt Gallery
5930 Troost
2nd floor
Kansas City, Missouri

exhibition continues through June 20th
gallery hours: 12 - 6 

conversation with the artists: 
June 8th
2 PM

harold smith and me

"Barber Shop in the Black Belt."  by Edwin Rosskam for the Farm Security Administration (c. 1940)

The work for my show at the Ethnic Art Gallery has been selected by the curators Anna-Maria and Ron, and now I begin the task of framing. There will be a small group of recent Uganda pictures, but the show will consist mostly of work I've been making at barber shops in Kansas City.

I'll be doing an email blast with all the pertinent information in the next couple days. If you don't think you're on my distribution list and would like to be, please send your email address to gbfeinstein[at]gmail[dot]com.

Harold Smith will be showing with me. He does wonderful abstract impressionist paintings. I think you'll really enjoy the show.

As for the image at the top of this post… I wish I'd been around then to have made it!

barber shop

I have continued my barber shop project while in Kentucky visiting my father. Maybe I'll have to do some more traveling to finish this series. It's really been wonderful working on it.

barber shops

A few weeks ago I began working on a series of photos of black barber shops in Kansas City. The work might be included in a show I'm having at the Ethnic Art Gallery in May (depends on how much I get done and how much I like the work). There are quite a few old barber shops in this town that have, for decades, catered to black men and boys only. Most of them are situated on the east side of town, running along streets like Troost and Prospect. These barber shops are some of the last bastions of male social gathering places - where men gather (even if they aren't getting a haircut or shave) to discuss sports, politics and current events and just have a good time together.

So, I've been hanging out at a few of the barber shops. It's been a lot of fun and incredibly interesting. I have yet to be able to visit any of the shops on a Saturday, which is when the chairs are full and the conversations are buzzing. So far, the places have been kind of quiet, but it's been a good way to get my bearings and get a feel for how the series might take shape.