Italian Photographer Silvia Alessi Captures Resistance Through Hair in Tel Aviv
Italian photographer Silvia Alessi explores the political weight of hair in her series 'What Escapes the Veil,' featured at Tel Aviv's PHOTO IS:RAEL festival. The project captures the resilience of Iranian refugees and women across cultures.
Italian photographer and former hairstylist Silvia Alessi explores the profound political and human dimensions of hair in her acclaimed documentary series "What Escapes the Veil," currently featured at the PHOTO IS:RAEL festival in Tel Aviv.
Alessi, 51, spent three decades working in the beauty industry before transitioning to documentary photography in 2004. Her ongoing project, "The Cut," investigates how hair transcends mere aesthetics to become a powerful symbol of identity, rebellion, and freedom across different cultures and marginalized communities.
Documenting Escape and Resistance
One of the most striking portraits in the series features Kimia, an Iranian university student who fled her country in the autumn of 2022 following nationwide protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini. After crossing treacherous mountain terrain on foot, Kimia sought refuge at a base of the Komala, an armed Iranian-Kurdish opposition party.
Two months after her arrival, Alessi photographed Kimia with hair strands breaking free from her headscarf. "The moment I took the picture, she felt the image captured the trauma and transition she had endured," Alessi recounted, noting that the intimate process of styling and physical touch helped break down barriers despite language differences.
A Hybrid Artistic Vision
Alessi’s methodology bridges documentary realism and staged conceptual art. Eschewing what she terms superficial "tourist sets," the photographer spends months researching social contexts and sketching scenes before arriving in the field with her partner, Roberto, who manages logistics.
Her work has taken her from documenting acid-attack survivors and albinos in India to female Peshmerga fighters in Kurdistan and Afghan refugees in Pakistan, where women famously brandished hair dryers like weapons—an image that recently earned Alessi the prestigious Global Peace Photo Award.
Art Beyond Borders
Participating in the Israeli photography festival despite broader geopolitical cultural boycotts was an effortless decision for Alessi. Rejecting the exclusion of artists based on nationality, she maintains that art must remain a vital bridge for human connection. "Art should be one of the places where people can still meet, get to know each other, and exchange ideas," she said, emphasizing that her enduring bonds with subjects like Kimia remain her most meaningful reward.
