Helicopter hair!

Don’t call them stylists – the term is “hair entertainers.” Today a hair show with a circuit of about 10 major American cities, Hair Wars began in 1991, and originates from nightclub events put on by one DJ Hump the Grinder. Today the event features some of the most multi-layered, hyper-detailed hairstyles I’ve ever seen. From haute-couture hair architecture to silly, surreal takes on everyday objects, images from this event convey artistry, humor and kitsch, all of which constantly flow into one another.

Photographer David Yellen has created a series of portraits of the hair show participants, which he published this past fall. Perhaps equally as fascinating as the hairstyles are the people wearing them. There are no fashion models here, just ordinary people having fun. They are young and old, male and female; many project the air of having been through a lot in their lifetime. There are little mysteries in each picture, such as in the image above, where the model has a visible scar on her neck. How did that happen? She could’ve hidden it with a scarf or a neckpiece (or with hair!) – but she didn’t, and the image is more powerful for it.

A good selection of images form this series can be seen on his site, and a further selection can be seen on Radar Online.

• David Yellen Photography – includes large section of Hair Wars
• Selection of Hair Wars images by Yellen on Radar
• Hair Wars on Amazon.com

Grey pearlescent flesh winds falls across warm skin. Secrets are exchanged.

Photographer William Springfield and dedicated model Sarah showcase exquisite lines and textures of an octopus, while exploring the harsh realities of love between woman and cephalopod. Love consumes, sometimes.

Nom.

Admittedly, I’d rather see a model interact with a virile creature, not mere sushi – and I don’t mean in the hentai sense. Though these images are successful in making me hungry!

• Related article about the mysteries of tentacle love.

Edward Burtynsky cares about our planet and has an eye for the surreal. His photography reveals nature transformed by industry, aspects of production that are vital to yet rarely witnessed by the general public.

The results of his extensive travel and research are stunning – the serenity of a sunset reflecting in fractured ground, the eerie silhouettes of coal mounds, the eternally halted machines of old industry.

It takes a lot of guts to do a powerful self-portrait. After the jump, my 5 favorites du jour, starting with:

Ali Mahdavi

The type of imagery that Chris Anthony is known for – vintage-style processing and antique elements coupled with horror themes – has become quite common in alt photography in recent years. However, viagra few images of this sort that I’ve seen crop up recently resonate with the depth and storytelling that Anthony is capable of. A good example of this is his “Victims & Avengers” series. The images create a ghostly narrative about domestic violence, a subject with which Anthony has a personal history. The subjects of these musty panoramas, primarily children and women, create a haunted landscape populated by victims of abuse and the revenge they take.

On his site, Chris Anthony offers a limited-edition portfolio of Victims & Avengers (though there is no information on how to buy it). The presentation is fascinating; the panoramas are printed on cotton rags and stored in a handmade wooden box upholstered with dyed Japanese book cloth. Each box contains “additional legal documents”: Divorce Order, Restraining Order and a Last Will and Testament, as well as a Checklist for Victims of Domestic Violence.

If you’re in LA, check out Chris Anthony’s new solo exhibition at the Corey Halford Gallery, entitled “I’m the Most Normal Person I Know.” Thanks, Beth, for the tip!

Anke Merzbach is a German artist with a fetching name specializing in stark otherworldly photography. Her website, Bildmacherin, contains six galleries filled with beautiful color, tangles of hair, and mysterious expressions. Every image seems enchanted, with its characters just paused for a moment amidst an unfolding fantasy.

Unfortunately my German knowledge is non-existent so there isn’t much more I can offer here. A bit of brief research lead me to Anke’s flickr account as well as a few other bits of web presence but nothing with so much as a bio in English. I almost prefer it – perhaps she’s as mysterious as her images. Enjoy a small selection of my favorites below, and the rest on Anke Merzbach’s official site.

A photo from one of General Tom Thumb’s successful tours in Europe.

Charles Sherwood Stratton was born today in 1838. His birth weight was a hearty 9 pounds, 2 ounces. For the first 6 months of his life, Charles continued to develop normally. Then, quite suddenly, he stopped growing. On his first birthday, the boy’s chagrined parents realized he hadn’t grown an inch or an ounce in half a year. They took him to a doctor, who told them it was unlikely their child would ever reach a normal height (he mostly likely suffered from pituitary gland malfunctions). Charles was a little over two feet tall and weighed 15 pounds.

Left: a playbill featuring the General’s many talents. Right: Stratton as a young child.

The embarrassed Strattons muddled along with their tiny son for four years until P.T. Barnum heard tell of the boy and negotiated with them to exhibit Charles on a trial basis in Barnum’s own NY museum. The family was paid a princely sum of 3 bucks a week plus room, board and travel expenses for Charles and his mother.

Thew new issue of Elegy is out! Actually, I think it’s more that the cover got leaked, which means that it’s about to come out. On the cover, a mask by Madame Khufu, as photographed by Spanish photographer Eccehomo.

Every time I get a new issue of Elegy, I mourn the fact that I’ve forgotten all my French. Luckily, every issue of Elegy is so packed with gorgeous full bleeds of photos and art from all over the world that even though I can’t understand a thing, the magazine is worth every penny. As Elegy’s main focus is music, each issue comes with a CD sampler; last issue, it included Neil Gaiman, Neubauten and Nurse with Wound.

• Alyz Tale – Rédactrice en chef, photographer and muse
• Official Elegy Site
• Elegy Magazine on MySpace

Bob Carlos Clarke, why did you jump in front of a moving train last year and end your life? You were one of the greatest fetish photographers that ever lived, and it’s not the same without you.

What passes for fetish photography these days is a joke, and you were one of the only people who got it: you understood that it was more about clothes staying on than taking them off, that it was all about contour and personality. The girls in your pictures didn’t make stupid faces while holding their boobs, and you could bring sexuality to any object you photographed, even if it was a stone or a fork.

Wish you were still with us.

• Bob Carlos Clarke Official Site
• “Shooting Sex” and “Love Dolls Never Die” – His books, now collector’s items.

$teven Ra$pa at the Spectra Ball © Neil Girling

Once in a while some old friend on the east coast rings me up: “hey, where the hell are ya? You just up and vanished!”

I always get this big, stupid grin on my face. “Yeah, sorry, ran away with the circus.”

It’s true. This golden state has become an epicenter for fringe carnival/vaudeville/cabaret activity in recent years and thanks to a strange series of coincidences and acquaintanceships, I’ve found myself in the thick of it: surrounded nightly by aerialists and clowns, can can girls and contortionists, feral marching bands, burlesque beauties, belly dancers, magicians, inspired costumiers, sword-swallowers, snake veggie oil salesmen, gonzo musicians, stilt-walkers, fire-breathers, and well, the list goes on about as far as the Pacific ocean.

Aaron at Lucid Dream Lounge © Neil Girling

With Crash Worship warehouse roots in San Diego, an enclave of trendsetting troupes in LA, and benefiting from its colorful Bay Area yippie heritage, just about anything goes in this subterranean Cali carny set. Constantly touring, seat-of-the-pants caravans push themselves to the limits of physical and financial endurance, venturing into the fiery realms of SRL, the Crucible, Black Rock City and beyond. War wounds abound. This ain’t no Circe du Soleil. There is no safety net.

Tiffany of Vau de Vire Society at Download Festival © Neil Girling