Portrait: Anna

I like photojournalism, and I am a big fan of lots of the old school photographers - such as Bert Hardy or Margaret Bourke-White - who worked for magazines like Picture Post and LIFE. Their photographs generally told a story with a human focus.

ISO 100, 35mm, 1/60, f4.5

This sort of work was in my mind when I went to Anna’s Barber Shop in Cheetham Hill. It’s where I get what’s left of my hair cut and I thought it would be an interesting environment to photograph.

17mm, 1/60, f4.5

I planned to record aspects of the working day in black and white, and started off in this way. But the more that I shot the more that I realised that the colour in the shop was far too interesting to leave out. I also began to concentrate on Anna, and the photographs became a portrait of her. For 18 years she has cropped the heads of the men and boys of the area and the shop and its customers revolve around her.

ISO 100, 17mm, 1/60, f4.5

ISO 200, 55mm, 1/50, f3.5

ISO 250, 55mm, 1/40, f4.5

 35mm, 1/40, f2.8

50mm, 1/50, f2.0

17mm, 1/50, f2.8

50mm, 1/125, f2.0

50mm, 1/60, f2.2

50mm, 1/125, f1.8

50mm, 1/80, f2.5

ISO 320, 50mm, 1/60, f3.2

50mm, 1/60, f3.2

On this day she was assisted by Martine. The flow of customers was almost ceaseless - hard work that requires concentration. I am always impressed with Anna’s ability to talk to her very different customers, or to be more accurate, to listen and respond.

Martine - ISO 320, 35mm, 1/15, f5.6

ISO 250, 17mm, 1/40, f3.5

17mm, 1/40, f3.5

35mm, 1/40, f2.8

ISO 320, 24mm, 1/50, f2.8

I also shot some pretty straight portraits of Anna but I feel they lack the interest of the environmental shots.

As I was leaving the shop a customer brought his son for a haircut. He was not a willing subject and I stayed to photograph Anna’s struggle to cut his hair. It was a scene of some drama, and one in which her skill and determination were clear.

35mm, 1/50, f2.8

17mm, 1/50, f3.2

These are RAW images that have not been processed. The different light sources in the shop provided a bit of a challenge. I used a fast f1.8 aperture lens for some shots. This was really effective but the very limited DoF was tricky to handle too.

A big thank you to Anna, Martine, Nellie the dog for letting me spend the day with them.