A Modern Hair Study

In 2011, during a visit to Paris’ Bibliotheque nationale, Tara Bogart saw the photograph Marie Laurent (1865) by Nadar and was immediately intrigued. The photograph, taken from behind, is of a young woman whose hair is held up by an ornate clip. Five months later, she began the series that became A Modern Hair Study. ‘I couldn’t stop thinking about what that same image would look like today. A Modern Hair Study consists of portraits of young women photographed from behind. By focusing on the back, the viewer is forced to contend with all of the peripheral things that make each woman unique.