Black Actress Hairstyles For Acting Headshots
I get booked a lot by black actors and black actresses because let’s face it a lot of headshot photographers do not know how to take photos of black people.
From photographers not understanding how to appropriately light the skin, to not knowing how to retouch skin, to not understanding the different hair textures and hairstyles, to the struggle of finding a makeup artist who knows how to do makeup on black skin types, I’ve been made aware of the struggles a lot of black women experience that make them feel insecure when it comes to taking their acting headshots.
As a result of listening and learning, black women often make up a large portion of my clientele because they know they can trust me to get them the photographs they need with confidence.
So let’s talk about the common concerns black women have when it comes to their hair for headshots.
Common Hairstyle Concerns From Black Actresses
The main concern I think black women tend to have is, “How I should wear my hair in my acting headshots?”
Black Actress Hairstyles
When you are not a black female, it’s easy to think that hair is simple and that you can easily transition from hairstyles without planning ahead or thinking of the cost and commitment, but after years of working with numerous black females I am constantly reminded that everyones head of hair is truly unique. I am going to list every hairstyle of black women that I think I know:
Braids
Dreadlocks
Afro
Straight hair
Curly hair
Wigs
Weaves
Bald or buzzed
Each of those have different categories all in itself.
Black Actress Headshot Hairstyle Choices
Now if you’re not black you’re probably wondering why does knowing all of that matter?
Well for one thing each of those styles of hairs takes these women a lot of time to make happen which means if they do it, not only do they have to find their hair person to make sure it gets done right and spend a lot money, but they have also to commit to it and if they’re going to get headshots in it they have to decide that they’re going to look like this for a period of time, so it’s an even harder decision to make than their non-black female counterparts.
Not just that, but each of these hairstyle options can give a completely, totally different look. So they have to build this headshot session and their characters look around their hairstyle.
Some agents will often tell their black talent, “oh yeah just let out your natural curls for this project tomorrow” or they’re told to just get some braids when production is a couple of days away without even thinking or considering how long or complicated the process outright disrespecting their talent without even knowing it.
How To Pick A Hairstyle For Your Headshots As A Black Actress
With so many options to choose from, how do you decide what style you’re going to go with for your first set of headshots?
Here’s my advice if you’re in that predicament.
Think About Character Looks
I’ve taught that the more different character looks you can show the better. It just broadens your opportunities to be casted for some many different types of roles and that’s the advantage of being able to have different hairstyles is that you can become a lot of different kinds of people.
So even though one hairstyle is gonna make you look younger and the other one might make you look professional, just choose one direction for now. That’s it. Keep it simple because eventually you’ll be able to add on more looks throughout the year and you can change up your hair to show how diverse your look is.
Simplify Your Process
If you make it complicated and try to fit in so many different hairstyles now, you’re going to overwhelm yourself, you’re going to get discouraged, and you’re going to not get your headshots taken.
Start with the easiest thing there is for you to do unless you’re an already a working actress and you know “okay I want to get cast for more mature roles so it’s time to change up my hair to make myself look older”
Or if you’re looking at the market and notice “okay most of these girls all have straight hair so I’m gonna do more curly, afro hair styles to stand out” or vise versa.
However, this is really only if you’re in touch with what’s going on in the market. Don’t think about any of that when you’re new.
So go with what’s the easiest thing to do for now, what’s the most affordable hairstyle, make sure it looks polished and picture ready and just get your headshots done.
Black Actress Headshots
Brandon Andre - Headshot Photographer
Brandon Andre is considered by many to be the foremost authority on Acting Headshots and the acting industry. He is dedicated to helping aspiring actors with his regular educational articles, videos, and guides about headshot photography and the acting business.
If you are in the Los Angeles, Phoenix, or Washington DC area and need professional actor headshots with an experienced top headshots photographer, contact Brandon Andre. Brandon Andre is one of the best headshot photographers in Los Angeles and the headshot industry today. He delivers quality headshots that will get you booked!