About six years ago I discovered that talking to people about haircuts was an interesting topic. I noticed that no matter who I spoke to, young or old, men, women or non-binary, gay or straight etc. the same themes came up for everyone. Like how so many of us will travel home for a hair cut because we can’t trust new hairdressers, or we’ve all cried at one stage after a bad cut, or how much we love our heads being touched.
So, after thinking it would be interesting to capture people’s ideas I actually followed through four years ago and finally spoke to ten different people about their experiences. Then for four years I had no idea what to do with these videos. I had expected people would talk for five minutes. But every single person spoke for at least twenty minutes.
Naturally, I expected myself to make something ground breaking, something that would gain international reach and open conversations worldwide. So my fear of this needing to be “brilliant” stopped me from knowing what to do next.
However, I am very proud to say, this year and six years later, I finally completed my documentary “Hairy Stories”. It will appear on Instagram in the form of short clips, all featuring a different mix of the ten characters and looking at a different theme in each one. There are fourteen short episodes in total. And I have to say, after all of the thinking and energy and angst that went into making this, I am really happy with the finished product. I think I have made it in the way that suits my creative voice and skill set. I’m also happy that it only took six years to make. In realistic terms, that might be quite average for any creative endeavour like this.
Thanks to these ten people for chatting to me and agreeing to be a part of it. Their stories are so human, so fun and so engaging. As seen below, Sahra, Paige, Eithne, Lisa, Amy, Christy, John, Julietta, Kevin and Kriti.
See the Hair Clip #1 “Being Brave” below, featuring Eithne, Julietta, Paige and John. The rest you can find on my instagram page @aine_gall_her for now.