My new project: Barber Shops

Barber shops are familiar to me.

One of my close and dearest friends became a barber just out of school. I've visited him at many of his shop jobs. One always more exciting than the last.

His favorite was a small quaint spot in the middle of the village we grew up in. I would meet him for lunch and we'd eat his favorite grilled-cheese-with-raw-onions on the picnic tables behind the restaurant we loved (he was particular that we ate the onions raw, cooked wasn't good.) He was charmed by the banter of the men that came into the shop. To this day he always has a new joke to tell. And to be honest, I never can get enough of his random text-jokes, no matter how lame they may seem at the time.

This particular friend of mine was a big part of my life growing up. He was my best friend for years and he has always meant the world to me. He taught me about music. He challenged me to cook, he walked home from school with me and he was a good friend.

We're still very good friends. Although he lives several states away, I look forward to his visits. And, he's still cutting hair at a barber shop he loves. He moved across the country (I shortly followed) and then he moved again until eventually he ended up where he is now. I haven't been to this new shop although I've seen the several in-betweens.

In the meantime more of my friends became barbers, some owners as well. One of which now owns the beloved shop my friend used to work for in that very village. So I get a good feeling when I'm in a barber shop. They have a warmness and a masculinity all the same. It's comfortable yet completely not my world.

I can't help but relate with my friends and how much they love working in these shops. And I can't stop recalling how many of my days have had stories about customers or some crude joke an elderly fella has passed on (pun intended.)

So as a woman who's chemical dependent on her own hairdresser I thought I'd extend a photographic journey to the barber shop.

Here's to the beginning of that journey! And here's to my friend JB.