Francesca Allen measures the worth of hair at a folkloric beauty pageant

Whether it’s Rapunzel or the slew of television shows like Channel 4’s The Big Blow Out and Channel 5’s dramatically titled Extreme Hair Wars, hair is one of the most prevailing motifs in high art as well as the ‘low brow’. We can all recall brilliant hair in art – the gravity defying dreadlocks of Basquiat, the cascades of golden hair in Botticelli’s Birth Of Venus or the androgynous hairdos of 80s New Wave – but what photographer Francesca Allen taps into with her new exhibition and publication launch titled Plaukai (the Lithuanian word for “hair”) is the bizarre ritual of hair competitions. Bringing forth cultural ideas about hair length, Francesca’s beautiful photos investigate the feminine trope of long hair with an empathetic and unbiased eye, capturing girls and women celebrating their anatomy.

“Hair is so deeply tied to identity and in many cultures it is viewed as sacred,” says Francesca. “I was never allowed to grow my hair long when I was younger, so it has always felt like this forbidden act of rebellion.” Inspired by a photo she saw online of a Lithuanian long hair contest in 1992, the idea percolated until Francesca was able to link up with a Lithuanian friend and shoot the event in person, still going strong after three decades. Francesca plays with colour and monochrome, the former illuminating the personalities of the contestants whilst the latter evokes a strange creepiness seen in hair-themed horror movies such as Bad Hair and Exte, which explore cultural ideas around girlhood, a central topic in Francesca’s work. “I’m constantly exploring different ways of experiencing girlhood and being a woman, and all of the unique interpretations of that,” says Francesca.

Some of Francesca’s photos mirror an anonymously painted portrait of Margaret Theresa of Spain, whose famously decorative hair is adorned with dozens of bows – an almost comical exaggeration of “coquette” femininity we see these days. Flower crowns, pink bows and frilly skirts are scattered throughout the project, affirming stereotypes of femininity, whilst Francesca’s empathetic eye challenges what femininity actually looks like. “Hair influences how we are perceived by others; how professional we are, our gender identity, our religion and culture,” says Francesca. Handled with gloved hands and judged by measuring tapes, the surreal spectacle feels folkloric – a post-apocalyptic society where the last remaining girls are determined by their hair, as if in this alternate reality, plaukai is endangered.

There is a strong sense of community found in these photographs – girls and women united by a thousand feet of accumulated hair. “Hair plays a huge role in our own self performance, and also our discrimination against others,” says Francesca. “For me, it’s an expression of who you are, but it can also be a safety blanket.” In one particularly striking photo, a girl takes to the edge of her seat, the rest of it covered in a wave of dark hair that takes priority. Sometimes, the faceless subjects of the photos are defined by their hair and additionally compared to whoever they’re standing next to. Francesca’s touching journalistic approach delves into the universe of fostering femininity – the sacredness, the weirdness, the almost mythical. From a fresh new perspective, body positivity is tackled here, bringing forth questions about challenging beauty standards, self-acceptance and individual preferences by focusing on head hair as opposed to our actual bodies. Francesca’s photographs argue that hair, the almost infinitely malleable natural fibre, is a type of art – not just a blowout.

Francesca Allen’s exhibition and publication launch runs 18-25 June 2025 at Allotment, Unit 8, Ability Plaza, Arbutus Street, E8 4DT. You can book an appointment with Francesca here.