My mothers red wig Toronto polaroids.
In the early 1990’s my mother Freda died of breast cancer in her home in Maine. I was living in Toronto at the time and I went to visit her several times before she passed away. On one of my visits, it was a few days before Halloween, I discovered a lush red wig that she had been using during chemotherapy. I started wearing the wig to keep warm in the chilly north-eastern mid-Autumn, thinking it was really cool to have hair like this, it made me look like some kind of rock star. I entertained my mother by pretending to be whoever was singing on the radio, lip-syncing and posturing for her amusement.
She must have really enjoyed my performances, because she secretly slipped her Red Wig into my luggage. On my way home upon crossing the border into Canada, the customs agent found the red wig in my bag, surprising and embarrassing me. I muttered something about Halloween, and he let me through snickering.
Thus I brought my mother’s red wig to Toronto and wore it to celebrity parties that had been assigned to me to photograph for the gossip pages of NOW Magazine. The wig was a show-stopper, with many fans who wanted to try it on. It soon became a magic wig, that spread joy and brought good fortune to all who put it on.
It occurred to me that I should photograph local celebrities wearing the wig as a tribute to my mother. I found this to be appropriate because my mother was born and raised in Toronto and it was only fitting that her wig would one day grace the heads of some of Toronto’s finest talent.
I spent months on this project. I made Polaroid portraits of Mark Breslin, Patricia Rozema, Gino Empry, Maureen Forrester, Henry Morgenthaler, Shirley Douglas, Charles Pachter, Byron Ayanoglu, Jay Scott, Ed Mirvish, Atom Egoyan and many others, all of them wearing the wig, each in her/her own special way. It made for an interesting portfolio that was featured on CBC-TV.
She must have really enjoyed my performances, because she secretly slipped her Red Wig into my luggage. On my way home upon crossing the border into Canada, the customs agent found the red wig in my bag, surprising and embarrassing me. I muttered something about Halloween, and he let me through snickering.
Thus I brought my mother’s red wig to Toronto and wore it to celebrity parties that had been assigned to me to photograph for the gossip pages of NOW Magazine. The wig was a show-stopper, with many fans who wanted to try it on. It soon became a magic wig, that spread joy and brought good fortune to all who put it on.
It occurred to me that I should photograph local celebrities wearing the wig as a tribute to my mother. I found this to be appropriate because my mother was born and raised in Toronto and it was only fitting that her wig would one day grace the heads of some of Toronto’s finest talent.
I spent months on this project. I made Polaroid portraits of Mark Breslin, Patricia Rozema, Gino Empry, Maureen Forrester, Henry Morgenthaler, Shirley Douglas, Charles Pachter, Byron Ayanoglu, Jay Scott, Ed Mirvish, Atom Egoyan and many others, all of them wearing the wig, each in her/her own special way. It made for an interesting portfolio that was featured on CBC-TV.
posted by Algis Kemezys | 6:07 AM
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