"GOOD AND BAD HAIR" par Bill GASKINS. Editions Rutgers University Press, New Brumswick, New Jersey & London. 1997. Imprimé au Canada. in-8, format oblong, couverture toilée anthracite sous jaquette photo. Non paginé (136p). Texte en anglais de Nikky Finney, illustré de 60 reproductions photographiques noir & blanc, pleine page, de Bill Gaskins.

Remarque : exemplaire signé (initiales) sur la page de titre ainsi qu'un ex-dono sur la page de garde.

"In a time when image is indeed everything, our personal appearance has a tremendous effect on nearly aspect if our lives on a daily basis. Our choice of hairstyle can mean the difference between acceptance and rejection by groups and individuals. The choices made by African American are particularly charged, often affecting the wearer and the viewer in unique and sometimes life-altering ways. Good and Bad Hair featured sixty evocative photographs of African-American men, women, and children, documenting contemporary Black hairstyles and their role as a feature of African-American culture. On one level, the photographs present reader with a variety of popular and personal approaches to wearing one's hair. On another level, they isolate what amounts to a bold, assertive departure from the common definition of American beauty that excludes the physical features of many people of African descent. This narrow definition of beauty has created a race-based measurement for what is considered "good" and "bad" hair. Gaskin's pictures identify African Americans from different regions of the United States who expressively symbolize their sense of self and often their sense of an African or Black identity through their hair. Good and Bad Hair highlights a dynamic form of personal expression and provides a mean for opening up discussion of that expression through a photography book accessible to all." Ref LPB0449