The Hairitage Project
Selected Work
Short Film
Title: Taji
Description: A young boy finds himself lost in a wonderland of Black hair culture. Separated from his family he makes a journey through familiar scenes of black hair cornerstones with ancestral spirits there to guide him.
Year: 2023
Location: New Jersey
Medium: Digital, Videography
Filmed by: David Orrell
Portraits
Series Title: Taji
Year: 2021
Location: Newark, NJ
Medium: Film, Photography
Material: 120mm, Kodak Portra 400 film
Edition: N/A
Dimensions: 16x20
Image Credit: David Orrell
Series Title: The Pencil Test
Year: 2021
Location: East Orange, NJ
Medium: Film, Photography
Material: 120mm, Kodak Portra 400 film
Edition: N/A
Dimensions: 20x26
Image Credit: David Orrell
Series Title: Untitled series, from the Taji Short film
Year: 2023
Location: New Jersey
Medium: Film, Photography
Material: 120mm, Kodak Portra 400 film
Edition: N/A
Dimensions: N/A
Image Credit: David Orrell
Series Title: Reis
Year: 2021
Location: Newark, NJ
Medium: Film, Photography
Material: 120mm, Kodak Portra 400/800 film
Edition: N/A
Dimensions: N/A
Image Credit: David Orrell
Series Title: Queen Esther
Year: 2021
Location: Newark, NJ
Medium: Film, Photography
Material: 120mm, Kodak Portra 800 film
Edition: N/A
Dimensions: 16x20
Image Credit: David Orrell
Series Title: Untitled series
Year: 2023
Location: Newark, NJ
Medium: Film, Photography
Material: 120mm, Kodak Portra 400 film
Edition: N/A
Dimensions: N/A
Image Credit: David Orrell
Series Title: Sunday Baptism
Year: 2020
Location: New Jersey
Medium: Film, Photography
Material: 135mm, Kodak Portra 400 film (Converted to B&W)
Edition: N/A
Dimensions: 16x20
Image Credit: David Orrell
Series Title: Untitled series
Year: 2023/2021
Location: Pennsylvania/New Jersey
Medium: Film, Photography
Material: 120mm, Kodak Portra 400/800 film
Edition: N/A
Dimensions: N/A
Image Credit: David Orrell
Series Title: Untitled Series
Year: 2023
Location: Newark, NJ
Medium: Film, Photography
Material: 120mm, Kodak Portra 400film
Edition: N/A
Dimensions: N/A
Image Credit: David Orrell
Series Title:Zunyda
Year: 2020
Location: Newark, NJ
Medium: Film, Photography
Material: 35mm, Kodak Portra 400 film
Edition: N/A
Dimensions: N/A
Image Credit: David Orrell
Series Title: The Girl in the Pearl Durag
Year: 2021
Location: Newark, NJ
Medium: Film, Photography
Material: 120mm, Kodak Portra/800 film
Edition: N/A
Dimensions: N/A
Image Credit: David Orrell
Series Title: Bronze
Year: 2020
Location: Newark, NJ
Medium: Film, Photography
Material: 120mm, Kodak Portra 400/800 film
Edition: N/A
Dimensions: N/A
Image Credit: David Orrell
Series Title: Black Love
Year: 2020
Location: Newark, NJ
Medium: Film, Photography
Material: 120mm, Kodak Portra 160 film
Edition: N/A
Dimensions: 16x20
Image Credit: David Orrell
Series Title: Tignon
Year: 2021
Location: NY, NY
Medium: Film, Photography
Material: 120mm, Kodak Portra 400 film
Edition: N/A
Dimensions: 16x20
Image Credit: David Orrell
Photojournalism
Lee Shingles of Lee's Barbershop located in East Orange, NJ.
Lee Shingles, or Mr. Lee, as his local community has come to know him, has had one job his whole life, and that was cutting hair: From the age of 14, working in his father’s shop in Atlanta, Georgia during the 1960s to owning his own shop, Lee’s Barbershop, in East Orange, New Jersey, for which he has owned and operated for over 30 years. Mr Lee has cut three generations of my family’s hair, from my grandfather to my dad and uncles to me.
Mr. Lee, through his shop, has witnessed and provided a community for Black Americans through all sorts of eras during his time as a barber; from maintaining the afros of Black Panthers to the emergence of the high-top fade and the birth of Hip Hop culture. Mr. Lee strongly believes in community building, which is culturally on brand for someone in his line of work, as barbers are often revered as figures of the Black community. But the life of a barber is not so one-sided as the barbershop also gave back, as Mr. Lee not only found community but also love. Mr. Lee met his late wife of 20 years in his barbershop, whom he refers to as the love of his life. “And so one day she came in and sat over there in that chair. I looked in the mirror, and I told a friend of mine. I said, ‘I’m going to marry that woman...’’
More on Mr. Lee’s story coming soon!
Gary Johnson, of Johnson's Barbershop located in East Orange, NJ.
Jasmine Larmond, Hairstlyst and Black Hair Artist
Adebunmi Gbadebo, Multimedia artist who works with Black hair.