Nigerian photographer J.D. โOkhai Ojeikere dedicated much of his career to documenting hair styles in Nigeria after the countryโs emancipation from Britain in 1960. We came across these gorgeous photos from his portfolio and had to share.
We love the gathering of this African threading.
Cornrows that defy gravity.
We love this cone bun.
Soft wave effect with African threading.
This elaborate updo looks surprisingly modern.
Loose African threading.
This is one of Ojeikereโs most popular photos, called โTall Houseโ.
We love the large beads at the end of the braids.
This African threading and updo combo is intriguing.
This look is incredibly sculptural.
A headful of poofs.
An interesting take on box braids.
Cornrow updo.
This braid style has a classic 60s look.
We love these horizontal cornrows.
Amazing diversity of looks! Ladies, which is your favorite?
I love it, they look like they are apart of a beautiful art exibit.
This is like my motherโs photo album from the 60s and the 70s lol
As I kid, I loved threading (especially unraveling my hair) but hated country plaits, as we called inverted cornrolls in Liberia. Love the pix!
Lol. Ab fab! The ever famous and popular โshukuโ that Nigerian school girls of all generations did. Threading?? Shudderโฆnightmare to do but the take down was soooo awesome.
Itโs definitely art.โฆbut nope.
Their hairstyles are so beautiful!
Nigeria, my Nigeria. Remember our days in secondary school when we used to make a lot of beautiful, ancient, hair growing styles to school. Iโm coming home Naija, America is not as sweet as you, tough wonderful people. Long live Nigeria, God bless Africa, home of the exquisite braids and threading and hairstyles black people all over the world wear now.
Naija representinโ Love my people!