The NYTimes highlights a show featuring the work of J. D. ’Okhai Ojeikere:
More hereIn Nigeria, it’s not just hair.
J.D. ’Okhai Ojeikere, Courtesy of Gallery Fifty One
When the country celebrated its independence from Britain in 1960, a hairstyle called the tall house literally sprang up. Spiraling close to two feet in the air, the style — Onile Gogoro in Yoruba — was sported by women across Lagos, like a crown that symbolized the aspirations of a new and striving nation.
Through the following decade, hundreds of other braided styles could be discovered throughout the country, each carrying a distinct meaning. Elite families even had exclusive rights to particular styles, with mothers passing down the intricate details of their secret patterns to their daughters.
The Nigerian photographer J. D. ’Okhai Ojeikere sought to preserve these traditions by creating a visual time capsule of close to 1,000 portraits of different looks — including braids, twists, plaits and buns. Before he died this year at the age of 83, Mr. Ojeikere spent more than three decades traveling across Nigeria to complete his most-recognized portrait series, “Hairstyles.”
