Salon Studies by Pamela Landau Connolly

‘Salon Studies’ takes a close look at women between the ages of 45 and 65, and the choice they make to either alter their appearance by means of dyeing their hair, or alternatively allowing their hair to ‘go grey’. For many women this decision is fraught with strong emotions, first and foremost among them a fear of aging.

I am interested in this age group of women because I am one of them. Every five weeks, along with my subjects, I am faced with the decision to either to color my hair to maintain my appearance as it is/was, or allow it to turn grey naturally. The coloring process includes sitting before a mirror for a considerable amount of time, facing one’s visage without the normal signifiers of hairstyle and clothing. Torsos covered by capes and heads covered with chemicals we are left to sit and stare in the mirror while the solutions cure. This stripped down state reveals a vulnerability I find compelling.

As part of my process I often photograph my subjects’ reflections in the mirror. I direct them to look closely at themselves, or directly into the camera lens, through the mirror. As a result these photographs are very much about the experience of being looked at: by oneself, the camera, the photographer, the viewer, and a society that values youth above all else.





Pam Connolly
Pam Connolly is a lens-based artist, bookmaker, and storyteller. Her portraits of women, tin dollhouses, and domestic spaces explore the terrain of childhood, memory, and the passage of time; the yearning between the imaginary and the real.

Connolly’s photographs are held in the collections of Brown University and the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Her books, Fly in Amber and Cabriole were acquired by the Hirsch Library, Houston, the University of Michigan’s Art and Design Collection, the Beineke Library at Yale, and the Museum of Fine Arts at Harvard.

Connolly has exhibited her work nationally at the Ogden Museum in New Orleans, Foley Gallery in NYC, and Candela Gallery in Richmond, and internationally at the Kominek Gallery in Berlin and the National Portrait Gallery in London. Most recently Connolly was included on the short list of 20 photographers in the International BBA Awards Exhibition in Berlin.

Connolly was named a 2024 Critical Mass Top 50 finalist, and is the creator and curator of Landau Gallery, a miniature art space showcasing photo-based art in 1:12 scale.

Connolly received an MFA in Photography from the Hartford Art School’s International Limited-Residency Program. She lives and works in New York’s Hudson Valley.
www.pamconnollyphoto.com
@pamconnollyphoto








Overheard in the Salon
When I look at myself in the mirror with all that stuff on my head all I can think of is “Am I going to get cancer from doing this?” I tried once to let it go and my hair colorist said “You’re not ready.”

It just makes me feel better about myself. After I get it done I feel so good. When I don’t do it I look so old. It’s helped me get through this time in my life. It’s difficult getting older.

3 months later…

I’m thinking of stopping (coloring my hair). I might be reaching the point where it no longer feels right for me. I’m going to be 64 next week and I’m wondering: How do people see me? I don’t want to be one of those women who you look at and think “she’s older but she still has dark hair?” What will people see if it is gray? What will it reveal about me?

2 weeks later…

I can’t.