Journalism: Photography Columns: The hair not there

Despite a constant barrage of commercials advocating thicker, longer or darker hair — along with the occasional ribbing from friends — many of us just refuse to listen. Eight years ago, Thane Kenny paid $10 for hair clippers. He uses them a few times a week and says, “I haven’t paid a dime since.” Kenny, 42, tends to take the stance that “the people this matters to, don’t matter to me.” The most recent picture he has of himself with a full head of hair is from 17 years ago, when it could touch his belt. He had never noticed his hair was thinning until a friend, whom he thought was kidding, pointed it out. At first, he wanted to keep it while he could, but that changed. “Trying to hang onto the last vestiges now seems silly,” he says. “It took me a year or so to say, ‘So be it. That’s the way it’s going.’ ” Bald, gray, thinning: None of them matter to me. While I know they do to some, for the life of me, I can’t understand why. I will echo Kenny’s opinion: “It really strikes me as silly that there is such a fascination with hair.”
The hair not there

Despite a constant barrage of commercials advocating thicker, longer or darker hair — along with the occasional ribbing from friends — many of us just refuse to listen. 

Eight years ago, Thane Kenny paid $10 for hair clippers. He uses them a few times a week and says, “I haven’t paid a dime since.” 

Kenny, 42, tends to take the stance that “the people this matters to, don’t matter to me.” 

The most recent picture he has of himself with a full head of hair is from 17 years ago, when it could touch his belt. He had never noticed his hair was thinning until a friend, whom he thought was kidding, pointed it out. 

At first, he wanted to keep it while he could, but that changed. 

“Trying to hang onto the last vestiges now seems silly,” he says. “It took me a year or so to say, ‘So be it. That’s the way it’s going.’ ” 

Bald, gray, thinning: None of them matter to me. While I know they do to some, for the life of me, I can’t understand why. I will echo Kenny’s opinion: “It really strikes me as silly that there is such a fascination with hair.”