Francesca Allen explores the nature of intimate female friendships and she is known for her depictions of girlhood and the often complicated coming-of-age experience. Konkursas depicts participants in Lithuania’s Konkursas Pasaulio Ilgaplaukės annual competition for the world’s longest hair. Here hundreds of girls and women with thousands of feet of hair walk the runway and have their hair measured by gloved judges, before shaking it in a ceremonial finale. Allen’s fascination with ritual and coming-of-age sparked her interest in the contest, one which blends pageantry with folklore and allows the artist to deepen her thoughts on hair within perceptions of femininity: “Hair influences how we are perceived by others, how professional we appear, our identity, our religion and culture. It plays a huge role in the enactment of self and also our discrimination against others.” - Francesca AllenThe resulting photographs—haunting, funny, slightly surreal—explore the dichotomy between modernity and tradition, obsession and aspiration, and ideas of girl- and womanhood.The series Konkursas, was presented in a solo show at Paris Photo 2025 in partnership with French fashion house Chloé.
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