“Underground” barber battle

andrewdoeshair · Mar 29, 2018

One thing I love about the barber side of the hair industry is that they put on these small shows, competitions, classes, and gatherings without big sponsors and without being overly curated. The cosmetology/hairdressing side of the industry tends to do more refined gatherings that feel stuffy in comparison. Anyways, although most of the barbering groups who do these events are heavily hip hop influenced, the vibe at these small events feels very punk to me. Like they hold the same spirit as when I was 19 and we’d put together hardcore shows in garages or basements. Last week I attended a barber battle and happened to have my camera on me, so I tried to capture the “punk” feeling of the event. I wanted to force extra movement and energy into the shots so I used a speed light with a Fong diffuser and a slow shutter speed, panning or twisting the camera during each shot. I also, for the first time ever, used a picture profile on the camera, saving quick JPEGs instead of working with raw files and meticulously editing. The only thing I did in Lightroom was add grain. Totally new approach for me, but I had a lot of fun taking these.

zulu42 · Mar 29, 2018

I think your technique captured your intent perfectly. Awesome shots! The third is my favorite, showing the motion of the clippers, the onlookers, and the element of the tattoo .

Derrel · Mar 29, 2018

EXCELLENT choice and execution on the photographic technique! Well-done! I think the second and third frames are especially well-executed, and they are very satisfying to me, as a viewer.

tirediron · Mar 29, 2018

Excellent! I wish I could think of stuff like this!

OldManJim · Apr 1, 2018

Nice series. I applaud your approach; this may inspire others to look at static pictures and consider a new way of doing this. I also like the fact that you shot jpeg - not everything HAS to be in RAW.