I Collect Gingers

Megan and myself are ginger #97 and #98 of Anthea Pokroy's I Collect Gingers art exhibition. 

Anthea has been photographing gingers since 2010 and now, two and a half years and 500+ gingers later, the red-headed Johannesburg-based artist and photographer will be presenting her debut solo exhibition at Speke Photographic / CIRCA on Jellicoe in Rosebank, Johannesburg tonight.

Pokroy explains, “It was only after my first photography session with seven ‘gingers’ that I began exploring the innate sense of community and collective experience that emerged from the otherness of the ‘gingers’ ”. Through her photographs Pokroy begins to construct a narrative, history/future and system of classification around this self-identified ‘race’. Pokroy uses this minority (2% of the world population) and mythical (historically considered witches and demons) group of red-headed people to highlight the obscurities of racial classification and discrimination which remain prevalent in South Africa. In a context that has historically been obsessed and oppressed by skin colour, Pokroy suggests an ironic alternative to genetic and pigment-based racial profiling. She begins to imagine what a ginger utopia might look like and what its implications would be.

Pokroy has documented gingers from all over South Africa, as well as internationally when she attended the Redhead Day in the Netherlands where thousands of gingers from all over the world congregated. ‘I collect gingers’, has received a plausible amount of interest in the media, including 5fm, 702 Talk Radio, The Star, Wanted Magazine, and Fair Lady amongst others. The artwork also has an impressive local and international social media following.
  
The exhibition opens on 17 January 2013 at CIRCA on Jellicoe. 

The show will run until 2 March 2013.

A Rare Breed - Gingerism



Rumoured to be heading for extinction, redheads make up only two percent of the world's population. 

While the pre-Raphaelites marvelled at our beauty, the ancient Egyptians persecuted those with ruby locks. 

Gingerism remains the last acceptable prejudice. 

But isn't it just hair colour?

I was nicknamed many things at school - Duracell, Rooikoppie, Copper Top, Ginge, Carrots and randy adolescent boys always wanted to know if the curtains matched the carpet.

I got teased all the time and I hated it.  I guess it makes us redheads tougher.  I detested my ginger eye brows and eye lashes.  I did everything in my power to cover up my freckles too.  Kids can be cruel and they tried to terrorize and bully me just because of the colour of my hair?  I didn't understand it but I certain kicked against it.

In 15th century Germany redheads were seen as witches and 45 000 were tortured and murdered.  The Greeks reckoned we turned into vampires when we died.  

At least in art redheads have often been given their due:  for the 19th century pre-Raphaelites, the only true beauty was a ginger beauty.  Redheads were transcendent, evoking lust, wealth and godliness.

But back to my school days, and it so wasn't cool at all to have titian locks.  I used to wish I could just "blend in" like everyone else and not stand out like a fucking beacon.  

After school, I was finally allowed to tint my eyelashes and eyebrows which made me look less pasty and ghost-like.  I also dyed my hair dark brown. 

Oh bliss!  How lovely it was to finally blend in and be "normal".  My silky, shiny hair was now dull and falling out in clumps because of all the chemicals from the hair dye.  I eventually gave up when my hair started to resemble horse fodder and I had a few bald patches.

My auburn hair slowly returned and since then I have given birth to two wee ginger lassies. 

I remember when I was pregnant with my first and praying that I wouldn't pass on my ginger genes to the little life growing inside me.  I hoped it would skip a generation (as it often does) and that she would have dark brown hair just like My Boerewors.  I didn't want my little girl to go through what I went through and constantly teased for being different. 

So during labour, my midwife peered deep into my private passage and announced happily "I see a bush of dark hair!" I sighed with relief.  Och, it wasn't 10 minutes later and she said "Oh wait, no, its definitely a red head like her mum".  My heart sank.  I thought to myself "Are you fucking colour blind woman?" or was it just really dark down there in the depths of my Vaginator?

My second daughter came along and she was also a ginger but by the time she was 2½ years old she was blonde and has been getting blonder and blonder since then...lucky her.  Although in winter her hair darkens and you can clearly see the ginger in the sunlight.

I have now learned to celebrate my awesome gingerness.  I'm part of that 2% of the population that are unique.  I now like being different and standing out.  I like to have the shine back in my hair and have strangers point and compliment me wherever I go.    

Every time I go to the hairdresser the stylists gather around ooohing and aaahing over my hair colour and make me promise never to colour my hair.  They always mention that dozens of people come into the salon and PAY big dosh to get my colour hair.  So, I'm a cheap date when it comes to hairdressing bills.  It's simply a cut and blow job and thats it. 

No sign of too much grey hair yet either and it generally known that redheads go grey quicker than others.  I guess I'm just lucky... 40 and no sign of grey hair yet apart from the odd stray every few months.

I've taught my ginger lass to celebrate her red hair - to not listen to those bullies and stand up for herself to taunting and teasing.  I hope I've at least given her the tools to send those bullies to the next girl who wears glasses or walks with a limp.  We all have something we wish we could change.

I don't anymore.

Red-haired photographer Anthea has a blog dedicated solely for portrait series on redheads. 

 

I still find it facinating how people either admire or abhor redheads.  Did you know we even have a phobia dedicated to us - Gingerphobia (a fear of redheads) or Gingerism (a prejudice against redheads).  I shit you not!

The stigmas and negative spins attached to our personas - the fact that we're all fiery tempered and have sharp tongues.  The general consensus is that we're all highly sexed, mischievous and have a higher pain threshold than most.

Well, I detest all forms of generalisation but I guess is only natural for society to want to put us in a box and label it.

Screw all of you that don't like redheads.  I'm a redhead and proud of it.

Being a Ginger in a Gingerland

Normally as a ginger, when you arrive at a venue or event, you are the only person in the room with red hair.  Okay, if you’re lucky, then there is maybe one other ginger in the room and a shared acquainted nod bonds you together. 

Familiar minority…

As a ginger, you somewhat get used to the attention it brings.  People want to come and tell you how lovely your hair colour is, they want to touch it, like it has some sort of magical ability.  They want to talk to you about my heritage and where the red hair comes from.

Often, it makes a good conversation ice-breaker if you want to network and meet new people.

But sometimes you just want to blend in and not stand out like a beacon, signaling for gingerfans to come and engage with you and ask the questions that you’ve answered a million times before.

Of course, when they hear my Scottish accent, it’s another topic for discussion. Where you from? When did you come here? Why did you leave? Will you ever go back? Sometimes I wish there would be other topics of discussion to tete-a-tete over.

Last year, I got involved in a project called I Collect Gingers and Anthea, the photographer and artist,  invited all her gingers along to secretly “take over” the opening of a art studio in Newtown last week.  It was Performing Ginger Art at its best.

The ginger gathering was a bizarre experience! 

The art studio was filled to the brim with 70 gingers and flashes of auburn, chestnut, strawberry, ginger and sandy were everywhere.  I’d never seen anything like it!  It was awesome and weird at the same time. 

Not only were the gingers the majority, but the blondes and brunettes must’ve felt like the odd-man-out, for a change.  I met gingers from Denmark and the States and chatted to them and how they felt about the ginger gathering. 

We all had similar feelings.  It felt rather empowering.  It felt like you had a room full of comrades and cohorts and that we had each other’s back.  We felt like we could take over the world!  Ginger superheros.  The ginger energy was exhilaratingly electric.  It flashed and flaunted everywhere. The atmosphere was overwhelming and grand at the same time and it deemed absolutely remarkable to be a part of something so cool.

I can’t wait for the next ginger invasion.

Cuz I'm a RedHead

Just clarifying a few misconceptions about stereotyped red heads or gingers.





Don't forget you have a couple more days to enter my Caption My Freaky Photo Competition HERE

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