If you've ever seen Chris Rock's hilarious, yet thought-provoking documentary "Good Hair," then you recognize the cultural significance of unbridled, natural hair. For those of you that haven't, photographer Michael July has spent the past five years painstakingly travelling the United States and his native Brooklyn to bring you the very best in free-flowing, big-ass hair with his coffee table debut, "AFROS: A Celebration Of Natural Hair."
July sought out a number of beautiful, intellectual individuals and asked them to show off their 'fro. Some were photographed at his Brooklyn studio accompanied by colorful backgrounds custom fitted to the individual's taste and style, while other images were taken on July's extensive afro tour. In addition, there are some famous 'fros to ogle from the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Angela Davis and Dr. Cornel West.
With each image comes a story about why the individual choose to wear their hair au naturel with some added history of the hairstyle. We know, we know, it's obviously an amazing idea for a book, but would you be surprised if we said it needs your help to actually come to print? To help fund the publication of this amazing project, July took to Kickstarter to raise awareness and garner support.
Until his collection of over 240 subjects covering a range of ethnicities gets the proper funding it deserves, the book may never see the light of day. Taken from July's Kickstarter page, "By creating this book my hope is to show how beautiful and diverse natural hair is and that it should be embraced and celebrated by everyone worldwide whether they choose to wear theirs natural or not."
You can pledge your support here.
Ladies and gentleman: Have you ever had an Afro, or do you prefer your hair pressed or cut short? Let us know in the comments section. We're curious...