Faces of Silver - by Ben Winkler

shine. Had we had any misgivings about the project beforehand, we were left in no doubt that Ben was onto something. Silver haired women are indeed beautiful. One telling photo comment enquires of him: “Do you photograph those of us who are imperfect also?” Ben’s reply? “Nobody is perfect, yet everybody is perfect!” The woman in that photo was me. Tall, gawky, skinny, with the neck of a giraffe was how I saw myself before the shoot. Very far from perfect, but Ben took a moment to kindly point out to me that my gloomy glass half-empty self-assessment could be tweaked to be a bit more positive. It worked. Shy at first, I slowly warmed up. For the shot in question, Ben captured a moment when I felt I truly owned who I was: Perfectly imperfect. And he did that for each of us. That is his gift.

The shots that are featured in this beautiful book showcase the incredible variety of women who have chosen to defy the norm to dye their hair, to instead be boldly, unashamedly, silver. Some never started on the hair dye merry-go-round and just let the silver hair grow in at its own pace, others had been on it for years, trapped in a cycle of frequent root touch ups and the concomitant tedious requirement to schedule major events around obligatory trips to the hairdresser. Regardless of the route we took, the end result is the same. We, the silver sisterhood, have united to show that it is still possible to be gray and glorious, that age does not in itself consign us to the scrap heap. Granted, some mental recalibration may be required to fully sign up to this more authentic you.

It’s maybe more about loving and embracing the ‘now you’ as opposed to the ‘you that you used to be’. This inevitably means accepting a shift in our evolving identity as a mature woman, making a fully conscious transition. It becomes a matter of appreciating what is there now, rather than mourning what is not. But it’s not necessarily bad news. Not at all. Contrary to what society tells us, some things actually get better over time. Age brings different and surprising benefits if we allow them space to flourish. As Ben would say, where ageing is concerned, attitude is all. The silver women in this book possess that attitude in spades.

It’s an attitude that defies conventional definitions of beauty. It screams empowerment and freedom. What Ben has achieved here is to showcase that attitude in us, to celebrate it in all its raw glory.

On behalf of all the silver women who took part, and those who wanted to but sadly couldn’t make it, Ben Winkler, we salute you and thank you for your unwavering faith in this project and for inviting us to join with you to challenge the status quo!

Louise Pendry University of Exeter, 2017