parting shots
Orlando Gili

Parting Shots is a street portrait series that explores the different ways Londoners use hair to help shape their identity. The series is inspired by the photographer Orlando Gili’s new-found fascination with hair, following the unexpected rapid loss of his due to alopecia. Orlando became acutely aware of how fundamental hair is in framing a face, and how much it allows us to express our personality. Over the winter months, he travelled across London with his camera slung over his shoulder, photographing people with hairstyles that were integral to how they presented themselves to the world.

Orlando Gili (b.1984, Britain) is an award-winning portrait and documentary photographer, capturing a world of colour and personality to counteract the dull, grey mundaneness of the everyday. Gili’s photographs are characterised by bold colours with an uncomplicated realistic aesthetic, with a intimate feel. The English at Play (Gili’s recent publication) has been described as “a humane portrait of a nation not only unwinding but navigating its history and place in today’s world” (CNN)