WASH DAY

A visual celebration of natural Black hair that highlights the powerful connection between mothers and daughters during their wash day rituals.

This stunning collection of beautiful photographs and powerful essays by documentary photographer Tomesha Faxio captures the intimate details of "wash day," a day that Black women set aside to wash, detangle, condition, and style their natural hair. Though wash day is routine practice in Black households, its significance goes far beyond hygiene or self-care. It is an opportunity for Black women to embrace their curly, coily locks and, when they have daughters, pass on this sacred ritual to the next generation.

Wash Day celebrates the bonds formed between Black mothers and daughters through gorgeous photographs of their hair care rituals and insightful stories that detail their unique natural hair journeys. Faxio brings us into the lives of twenty-six different families, illustrating the many ways that Black mothers have instilled love, acceptance, and confidence in their daughters about wearing their natural hair. Through these stories, we learn how some mothers prioritize their children's comfort to teach them that their hair is not difficult or burdensome, while other mothers simply encourage their daughters to love their big hair, even when they themselves find it hard to love their own. No matter wheretheyareintheirjourney,eachmotherfeaturedin WashDayisactivelyundoing generations of internalized hatred of natural hair, showing how this ritual can be both an act of self-love and a practice in resistance.

Exploring everything from texturism and hair discrimination to the feeling of not being quite "there" in your natural hair journey, Wash Day is a visual homage to Black culture, Black rituals, and the generational bonds that strengthen the Black community.

Tomesha Faxio (she/her) is a self-taught documentary photographer dedicated to portraying and centering the Black experience. She specializes in portraits of Black women and women of color, wielding photography to reject Eurocentric beauty standards and alterations of natural beauty. Her photography has been featured online by Parents, Jezebel, The Guardian, USA Today, and Forbes, as well as in the documentary films Refuge and Love Wins Over Hate.