Online image inspiration

Pictures found of real people on facehunter and the sartorialist

Celebrity photos and blogs can show new trends emerging

Behind the chair has been one of my most visited resources for hair pics, Salon_52 was another. They both show some of the latest picture collections being put out by todays stylists. A lot of the pictures I have collected have been sourced from one of these sites, or at least have alerted me to the presence of someone's work to explore further. I have found that the photographic collections don't interest me as much as they used to a few years ago, when I used to search this stuff voraciously. Not that the quality of work seems any worse, but the images just aren't as relevant to the type of work I am doing in the salon. While I have fun occasionally doing what I think of as "hairdresser hair", I prefer to focus on creating beautiful clients, and the fluidity of the sections of hair within the haircut. In photographs I see lots of work I just could never recommend. Nowadays I am influenced more by celebrity, and street images from blogs like facehunter and the sartorialist. Of course there is a fair bit of repetition in these styles, but I am quite happy to work with variations on the classics, interpreting how they work with current trends and individual personalities. Also these images all show hair as they are being worn in real life situations, as opposed to unachievable looks created in a studio. European/British fashion tends to be the first to reinvent a look, and as it filters through to the magazines and stores over here in Australia, we interpret how that trend will influence hairstyles and colours.
In fashion there is rarely anything new, only reinvented, and hair is no different. The styles will usually stay the same, but as products and tools advance, the way we create them can be different. So having access to collections, past and present, is an advantage. Especially early in an apprenticeship. When you just start out, you are usually only aware of the styles currently being worn by your generation. Don't be misled into thinking that you don't need to learn to create a style that is not currently in fashion. One day that look will be back, with a twist. I always thought that mullets would never come back, and I ended up wearing one! CuratorUK is a site that highlights the collections of past masters in hair as well as the current, which is worth checking out.