Painting With Shadows

The blog of photographer Kim Ayres

Hair today...

17:18 ,
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9 years and 363 days after she was born, Meg has had her first hair cut.

Quite why it has taken so long to get round to doing it comes down to the fact that when it’s loose, Meg’s hair is astonishingly beautiful and we’ve never had the heart to cut it.

Unfortunately her very long hair has also been a nightmare to look after. Every day it needed to be thoroughly brushed out, de-knotted and plaited. In fact it spent 99% of the time in a plaited ponytail just because it was completely unmanageable otherwise.

With Meg’s 10th birthday approaching we realised we had to reach a stage where she would be able to look after her hair herself, so this morning Maggie and our friend Liz took Meg to the hairdresser in what felt like some kind of female rite of passage.

The camera was duly thrust into my hands for the obligatory Before and After photos

Before After
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27 comments

Anonymous said...

I hope you kept the ends - that was her baby hair!

She looks more grown up all the time. That's an adorable jacket too. Great shots, dad!

5:46 pm, February 12, 2008
Anonymous said...

I love her long hair, but I can understand the practicality of cutting it.

So another chapter in Meg's young life closes . . .

6:11 pm, February 12, 2008
Tricia said...

BEAUTIFUL!

This helps with my argument to not cut Georgia's hair for almost 9 more years too! :)

6:33 pm, February 12, 2008
Sayre said...

You're right - her unleashed hair is astonishingly beautiful. But how often do you get to see that sight? Much better that the girl who is becoming a young lady is able to do for herself. She is beautiful either way, but you know she will become more beautiful every day.

7:48 pm, February 12, 2008
Hannah said...

There is a Jewish tradition that people do not cut their sons' hair until they turn three. I'm not sure what the ritual means--but that first haircut seems so amazingly powerful, doesn't it? Especially if you wait.

8:34 pm, February 12, 2008
Mary Witzl said...

Meg's hair really is beautiful (even more so in real life), but knowing what it is like to deal with hair of that length on a daily basis, I can only applaud your decision! I'm getting mine cut off in a couple of weeks and I can hardly wait. No matter how magical and charming long, flowing hair is, it is such a headache to wake up to every morning. All the tangles drive me wild, and washing it is hellish. Here's to short, short hair.

9:48 pm, February 12, 2008
MsAmpuTeeHee said...

What a great rite of passage. And her hair is still so beautiful!! I hope the shorter length allows her to wear it loose more often.
Now back to my own hair rite of passage (trying to decide if I should start covering the grey).

12:52 am, February 13, 2008
Restaurant Gal said...

Two women I work with have both just cut their incredibly long flowing hair to very short lengths. One did this as a way to express her freedom after a sad divorce at a young age. The other did this as a way to be free to tend to her new baby girl. Both are still beautiful, but now in more grown-up ways. As is your Meg--a beautiful girl growing up.

1:33 am, February 13, 2008
MaLady said...

Meg is beautiful, just beautiful.

I feel your pain; I was forced to cut my little girl's never-been-cut hair recently too. She lost her lovely lovely baby curls that effortlessly wafted down, cascading around her face...I do not miss the tangle tears though.

2:34 am, February 13, 2008
Anonymous said...

Wow - amazing. Nice work Kim (and Maggie).

7:04 am, February 13, 2008
Christina M said...

Wow!
She is really beautiful, before and after.
Big decision !

10:46 am, February 13, 2008
Apex Zombie said...

I know y'all didn't do it out of tradition, but there's a Samoan tradition in which boys don't get a hair cut until a specific birthday (I forget which one).

2:45 pm, February 13, 2008
Kanani said...

Ah, she looks very hip!

Her long hair was beautiful, but I can see where it was taking forever to sort!

Plus, summer is coming, and now it'll be cooler and easier after she goes for a swim.

4:05 pm, February 13, 2008
MikeP said...

I spent my whole childhood with a buzz cut. So I don't really know what it must be like to have to take care of long hair on a daily basis.

It is definitely a rite of passage, however, when parents no longer make your hair style decisions.

4:29 pm, February 13, 2008
fatmammycat said...

Oh no! I mean I can see and TOTALLY understand the decision and the practicality, but her beautiful hair, she looked like Botticelli's Venus.
What does Meg think now? She's probably delighted with it.

7:16 pm, February 13, 2008
Unknown said...

You surely shed some tears. Her hair is absolutely breathtaking. I will not get much sleep tonight with the envy bug worrying me.

8:18 pm, February 13, 2008
Brave Astronaut said...

My son was a little over a year old when he had his first haircut. We had it cut by the woman who had been my mother's hairdresser for most of her life (and all of mine - they would tell stories of how I would come with my mother and sit next to her while my mother had her hair done). I barely held it together as he had it cut as my mother had only died a few months earlier.

You should get double points on your to-do list as Meg is truly a stunning young lady. You, sir, are going to have your hands full when the suitors start :)

9:00 pm, February 13, 2008
Anonymous said...

My son, 11 now, has decided he wants to let his hair grow. It grows straight out, and he looks like an electrified Q-tip. But you're right... they reach an age where they have to make their own choices. (Even when, like in my son's case, those choices make them look like an idiot.)

I think your girl looks just lovely. Lucky you!

9:08 pm, February 13, 2008
Andraste said...

Awwww...lovely. It's still long enough for a braid or ponytail, while making it more manageable vis-a-vis tangles - a nice compromise.

That's the best thing about long, but not too long, hair. You can leave it loose for a very pretty, feminine look, but it's still long enough to tie back an keep it out of your face when you need to.

10:01 pm, February 13, 2008
Tom said...

As someone who chooses to wear his hair long, these pictures pain me. But the results made it all worthwhile, I suppose. Fantastic rite of passage. And pictures. She looks very pleased.

11:01 pm, February 13, 2008
Eryl Shields said...

Ah, the rituals of femaleness are beginning for Meg: soon she will be spending hours in the bathroom with a tube of lipstick and an eyeshadow multi-compact, littering her room with shoes and tried on but discarded clothes, refusing to eat anything 'fattening' and saying things like 'my style is a mix of vintage and high street with the odd designer label...

9:22 am, February 14, 2008
Anonymous said...

Beautiful hair but the brushing must have been a daily challenge. I cut my youngest's hair for the first ten years. Her first 'salon' visit was a real rite of passage.

2:08 pm, February 14, 2008
Kim Ayres said...

Sam - We didn't keep the ends, but you're right, they would be nearly 10 years old

Charlie - she's all excited about reaching double figures

Tricia - Practicality vs "Aawwww" - always a difficult choice

Sayre - that was it - it just became so rare we could let it down - once or twice a year that the maintenance seemed to high a price to pay

Purloined Letter - welcome to my ramblings and thank you for taking the time to comment.

I remember a blogging friend of mine did that when his son was 3. He wrote about it here

Mary - I used to have realy long hair, but have to admit the upkeep was one of the reasons I finally took the clippers to it

AmpuT - The plan is to let her wear it loose most of the time now.

Restaurant Gal - Our hair can really be a part of how we see ourselves at different stages in life - we only have to look at photos of all our dodgy hairstyles from the 70s and 80s to realise that :)

Malady - At least we never had to cut it because of glue or some such substance stuck in it :)

T-Mac - thank you - you said you wanted a pic of her hair long :)

Christina - I guess it's not one you've worried about for Vince, although we did for our so. He had such beautiful blonde curls as a baby that he was 3 by the time we could face cutting his hair

FLG - You'll have to look that one up for me and let me know

Kanani - we live in Scotland, which means summer isn't so warm and no one swims in the sea... :)

MikeP - I used to have hair that went down to my butt, so these days I love having it really short

FMC - Meg is delighted and can't stop brushing it herself. I'd swear that brush is going to end up welded to her hand

Carole - it was a shame, but at least Meg is happy about it

Brave Astronaut - that's a powerful moment - thank you for sharing it

CamSavWin - my 12 year old has been growing his since last summer. It's now reached the length it was last time he had it cut, but he's going to keep going with it for now. I have no idea how long it will be before he asks me to take the clippers to it again.

Andraste - you have it exactly :)

Tom - Don't worry, it's not the first step towards a buzz cut...

Eryl - You know your styles - you've got her off to a tee, although we call it a mixture of hand me downs, high street and charity shop bargains

Conan - I used the clippers on my son's hair from the age of 3 to 12, but I wouldn't know how to use scissors. I thought it safest to let her go to the salon :)

5:51 pm, February 14, 2008
Stella said...

Aaw..........Loved the long hair, love the "new do", Meg is beautiful, but you know that already.

11:26 pm, February 14, 2008
Amy Flege said...

beautiful!

5:36 am, February 16, 2008
jotcr2 said...

She's looking very grown up.

10:21 am, February 21, 2008
sarah said...

she does have beautiful hair (still)

she looks like she's dancing in the first photo. (warms cockles of heart) she's very cute.

1:12 am, February 22, 2008

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