Silver: a state of mind, a statement of class

Recently I was directed to viewing a trailer on Vimeo of Vicki Topaz exhibition Silver: a state of mind.



In 2010 Topaz photographed a range of women, over fifty, a mix of models, actresses, professionals - there are quite a few academic women involved in the project.
The photographs are very beautiful, in black and white, very much in the style of traditional expressive portrait photography, wrinkles and imperfections are shown in all their glory and glorious they are. What is common to all these women is that they all have silver hair: long, short, curly, straight but all of different shades of grey.
It has taken a little while for Silver to tour but it is now doing it. It has also been written about in a number of international  magazines and newspapers. Who knows, we might see it in the UK soon enough, I certainly find it fascinating and would love to see the portraits for real rather than having to view them on a computer screen.

Photographer: Branislav Stefanik. Model: myself

The concept of allowing women to talk about their grey hair is not entirely new. It has been used in advertising and occasionally in editorial spreads in which going grey is discussed. Women who embrace their silver with the idea of making a statement about their age and with the aim of encouraging a notion of beauty which is broad enough to accept signs of ageing are still few and far between. Vicki Topaz portraits are beautiful because the signs of age have not been airbrushed, that must have taken some courage on the part of the women who modelled for these images - we all feel a little vulnerable when our imperfections are shown.
I have also noticed that in the media it is mostly Caucasian women who are seen to embrace their silver, therefore these portraits are even more interesting because they do show a mix of ethnicities, with a few non-caucasian women being portrayed.
Going grey is not limited to Caucasian women. But I do worry that in celebrating the beauty of grey hair, women belonging to other ethnic groups are bypassed. It may well be that among non-Caucasian women the idea of colouring to disguise one's age is harder to be dislodged, but wait, no, I think this is not quite the reason, the real reason is to do with the usual ratio of Caucasian to non-Caucasian models
When I look at fashion images of Asian women, for example, even when portraying older women, I see them with black hair. The recent attempt by the Singapore based model agency Carrie Models, which launched a branch for 'mature models' - Carrie Elegance - with a much publicised TV competition to find suitable candidates does not show a single grey haired woman among their  models aged 35+.

Photographer: Branislav Stefanik Model: myself

It also seems, as a phenomenon, largely confined to the middle classes. What I mean is not of course that only middle class women go grey, but that it is mostly middle class, professional women who are likely to embrace silver with the aim to project themselves as still beautiful, claiming visibility.
These are thoughts that I cannot help having when I step back and look at this 'embracing your grey' phenomenon, of which I am also part. By voicing such concerns I am not in any way expressing any condemnation, on the contrary. I simply wonder on the demographics of the phenomenon and why it should be confined only to a specific, ultimately rather privileged, group.


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