We're so pleased to share yet another lockdown project with you. Kelley Dallas is a visual storyteller living in Denver, USA. She focusses on both short and long term everyday projects and is currently working on a number of projects looking at her family's domestic life during the Covid-19 pandemic. She's kindly shared one of them with us here.......
My daughter is always begging to let her hair grow and I always counter with haircuts - worried about the tangled mess that comes with long hair when a child does not take care of it. But, out of necessity, I let it happen during the time of the COVID lockdown. And, remarkably, my daughter has risen to the occasion and has taken good care of it in the last couple of months.
The carefree nature of her long hair represents to me - summertime, movement and freedom - all the things that seem so restricted now in the time of the pandemic. It is almost as if her hair is a metaphor of what could and should be, but what is not.
At times, the way her hair falls on her face, it portrays a sense of mystery about her growing up. And other times, it shows front and center her gregarious and outspoken personality, where there is no mistaking the young woman she is becoming. I've since let her keep the length - she's earned this right having proven how beautifully she can handle it.
I'm a candid, "no posing" photographer
So how co-operative was she whilst I created this seres? Well, for the most part she was cooperative. If I asked her to stay in place for too long, she sometimes lost patience because I am usually a more candid, "no posing" photographer.
I've also been asked whether it was a conscious decision to display the entire collection in black and white and it was - absolutely. I like the way black & white helps simplify the elements of the photo and help draw one's attention to the details and to the story being told; it also really helps enhance textures, and ultimately provides a feeling of nostalgia that will only intensify the older these images become.
Kelley's Gear:
Kelley photographed this series using a Sony A7r3 and a Sony A73 - with a Zeiss Batis 40mm and 25mm...and with an iphone 11 Pro.
You can find Kelley here: