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Informationen zum Autor Tomesha Faxio (she/her) is a self-taught documentary photographer dedicated to portraying and centering the Black experience. She specializes in portraits of Black women and women of color, wielding photography to reject Eurocentric beauty standards and alterations of natural beauty. Her photography has been featured online by Parents, Jezebel , The Guardian , USA Today, and Forbes , as well as in the documentary films Refuge and Love Wins Over Hate . Klappentext NAACP AWARD WINNER • A visual celebration of natural Black hair that highlights the powerful connection between mothers and their children during their wash day rituals. “A beautiful love letter to natural hair and the rituals Black women have created.”—Roxane Gay In this stunning book, documentary photographer Tomesha Faxio explores the power of “wash day,” a day that Black women dedicate to washing, detangling, conditioning, and styling their natural hair. The significance of wash day goes far beyond hair care—it’s an opportunity for Black women to pour love into their curly, coily locks and, when they have children, pass on this sacred ritual to the next generation. Wash Day celebrates the unique bonds between Black mothers and their children through intimate photographs of their hair-care routines and insightful stories that detail their natural hair journeys. Faxio brings you into the homes of twenty-six different families, illustrating the many ways that these mothers have used wash day to instill love, acceptance, and confidence in their children about wearing their natural hair. Through hours spent with their children, typically at the kitchen sink, each of these mothers is resisting generations of hair discrimination by creating a space for empowerment, all while finding their own sense of self-acceptance along the way. Capturing the inherent beauty and diversity of natural hair, Wash Day is a visual homage to Black culture, Black rituals, and the generational bonds that strengthen the Black community. Leseprobe Introduction My Natural Hair Journey I didn't know my “naps” were tiny curls until my late twenties. Since I wasn’t blessed with “good hair,” I don’t recall ever hearing the word curly being used to describe my tightly coiled texture. Just “nappy,” which, back in the 1990s, definitely wasn’t a compliment. I learned early in life that my “bad hair” required a remedy. One such remedy came in the form of heat. I have vivid memories of Saturday night hot comb presses and holding on to my ears to shield them from getting burned. I remember the smell, the anxiety, and the result: straight hair that was deemed presentable for church on Sunday. The more permanent solution for my “unwanted” texture required chemicals. I don’t remember my first hair relaxer, but I know it was applied pretty early in life. So early that I recall little to nothing about the head full of kinky hair that existed prior. After the cycle of regular relaxers began, my only interaction with my textured hair occurred when the troublesome “new growth” appeared and needed to be “touched up” with more relaxer. This routine conditioned me to dislike my hair in its natural state—the way it grew out of my scalp. I was taught to fix it, to alter it, to make it lay down and behave. I had no concept of any other way to treat my natural hair. I was only made to understand that it was not welcome. One of my earliest memories of the extent of this conditioning is of a nine-year-old me, looking into the mirror after a full day of swimming. My skin had darkened from hours in the California sun and the edges of my hair were shriveled from exposure to the chlorinated water. I hated my reflection so much that I swore to never swim again. Similar to many Black women, I wa...
