Catching Shadows is an ongoing pseudo performative exercise in which I document my daily hairstyles. I accomplish this by backlighting myself and quickly and as accurately as possible marking my shadows.

 

This project was motivated by video conversations with my mother, in which without fail she would comment on my hair by calling me “despienada” (unbrushed/unkempt). It has now morphed into a running joke of ours, but I am interested in what prompted this commentary. Appearance has been the backbone of all my conversations with my mother, as well as an ever-present standard to a good life.

 

With this series, I begin to explore the pervasive notion of pelo malo (bad hair) in Latin American culture. All my life, I’ve been told I had “good hair”, but to achieve this so-called good hair of mine, it would take a minimum of an hour to straighten.