November 5, 2014
Those iconic Nigerian
hairstyles from the ’60s
Long before Chris Rock wondered what was up with black women’s hair (“Good Hair” 2009), black women in Africa were busy engaging in acts of self-fashioning that married their political sensibilities and their aesthetic leanings in ways that defied limitations of imagination and gravity. And photographer J. D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere was there to document that passing moment, showing us that hair was always political – reflecting not only one’s personal aesthetic position within global currents, but those of one’s nation, as well.
In the first of the BBC World Service’s new Youtube series (where they film radio interviews), Bisi Silva from the Centre for Contemporary Art in Lagos explains that one hairstyle – much like today’s styles associated with celebrity (like the “Farah Fawcett”, or the “Rachel”) – was even given a name: “Onile Gogoro” – Yoruba for “tall house” or “standing tall”. But this was not a style associated with any ordinary human celebrity; it was the embodiment of aspirations and euphoria of a nation at independence. Variations of these hairstyles were all over – I remember them in Zambia as late as the ’80s, before the “wet look” (known as the Jheri Curl in the US – BTW, the creator of that look, Comer Cottrell, just died this year) and hair straighteners took over.
J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere_Untitled_1963
Back in the ’60s, photographers were busy documenting the men of Africa, the patriarchs in their horn-rimmed spectacles, contending with the men of Europe, who wanted to maintain their control.
But Ojeikere documented how the ordinary person felt – how women in Nigerian urban scenes responded to independence, unleashing their poetic aspirations through style – their hair, clothing, walk, and body language. This hair stood tall on a solid structure, allowing one to reach higher than one’s physical limitations permitted. It captured the swirl in a wave that would otherwise only last a few moments in the ocean.
What a lovely imaginative leap, to go from thinking lofty thoughts about what independence offered us, to thinking…how shall I fashion myself – my living, physical body – to reflect my political desires, the euphoria that my fellow citizens feel?
When I see Ojeikere’s photographs today, I think of the same narratives I hear about New York’s first skyscrapers, built at the turn of the twentieth century: of the mythologies surrounding the Flatiron Building (1902) and the Chrysler Center (1930). Each of these grand buildings was imagined at a seminal historical moment of great hope and impossible-possibility. Into their construction went the desire to both show off and contain virility. So too, this hair.
Today, when one walks the avenues of Manhattan, one can easily pass by those powerful dreams that produced iconic buildings. We could easily forget those potent episodes in our histories. Ojeikere’s photographs remind us of such a wild moment – a moment that produced quintessentially Nigerian personifications of “freedom”, “modernity”, and sexual, creative, and generative power.
J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere_Untitled (Onile Gogoro)_1972
Photo Credits: J.D. Okhai Ojeikere & CCA Lagos
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December 26, 2014
J.D. Okhai Ojeikere
(1930-2014):
In Memoriam
By Akwaeke
Press Release
With gratitude to God, we announce the passing away of our father, and an icon of photography, Pa J.D. ‘Okhai Ojeikere. He died in the afternoon of 2nd February after a brief illness. He was 83 years old. Burial announcements will be announced later.
– Ehiz’ Ojeikere, for the family.
Known for his stunning documentation of hair styles and sculptures, J.D. Okhai Ojeikere was a Nigerian photographer who began his career in 1954 as a darkroom assistant at the Ministry of Information, Ibadan. He was born in 1930 and bought his first camera in 1950, a Brownie D.
A year after Nigeria gained independence, he began working at Television House Ibadan as a studio photographer under Steve Rhodes. He joined the Nigerian Arts Council in 1967, and 1968 saw the start of his documentation of Nigerian hairstyles, a project that would become his trademark. However, his first solo exhibition wasn’t till 1995, when his work showed in Nigeria and was also shown outside the country for the first time, as part of an exhibition in Switzerland.
Watching his interview for the ARS 11 exhibition (6:50-9:38), it’s almost impossible not to like the light in his eyes or the sound of his voice. It sounds like home and resilience- his work went unpublished for thirty years until a French curator chanced upon it during a visit to Nigeria. Pa J.D. Ojeikere’s images embody the preservation of an African (in this case, a Nigerian) aesthetic, recording features of society that were so specific to the time and place he found himself in. His work is our history, regal and rich. In an excerpt from the interview, he spoke simply and eloquently about what he did:
“You know, nature gives every human being a role to play in life. It happened to be that by nature, I am created to be a photographer. And being a photographer does not mean that I have to cover all aspects of photography. I am not a war photographer, I am a civil photographer. And I have an urge to document culture, not wars and civil strife.”
R.I.P to a legendary artist and pioneer. His work will continue to inspire generations of artists to come, and in that, he will always be immortal to us.
You can see more of his work over at Fifty One Fine Art Photography.