Portraiture

Seeing Red

Photographer Stewart Cohen explores the popular notion that redheads are well on their way to extinction.

MC1R is the gene that makes an individual a redhead.

Seeing Red explores the popular notion that redheads are well on their way to extinction. It was this curious rumour that piqued my interest, igniting a desire to untangle the mystery surrounding red hair with a closer look at a cross section of gingers from all walks of life.

I began thinking about how fascinating it would be to memorialize as many redheads as possible. I photographed each subject in an elegant, tufted shadow box otherwise known as the macabre “framed coffin”, – a visual allegory for redheads facing extinction. Once the word spread that I was photographing redheads, I had an overwhelming response from gingers around the world – each wanting to be immortalized as a part of the project. 300 portraits on two different continents later, the voyage had just started but it was time to publish. To enjoy the differences in each person, I photographed them all in the same fashion with large-scale gallery prints in mind. Each person was also recorded on video, stating what being a redhead has meant to them.

Celebrity comedian Carrot Top
Daniella Judge
Daniel Forsythe
Maddison Harty
Randy Foraker
Veronica Van Dine
Michael Harrison
Ryan McManemin
Matt Wilson
Maggie Prebble
Matt Cooper
Augustine Frizzell
Tiffany Bryan
James Bruess
Allison Ponthier
Seeing Red book Cover image with artwork
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The photographer

Stewart Cohen

Stewart Cohen graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1982, and went on to apprentice with internationally known photographer, Helmut Newton. He subsequently established his own studio in Dallas and is internationally known and recognised in the world of print photography, both commercial and fine art, and for his energy and his extraordinary ability to work with people.

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