New photobook shows importance of barbershops in Black life

Places where generations of men from various socio-economic groups meet, a site of Black entrepreneurship, and a testament to the healing power of touch, the Black barbershop illustrates the positive side of Black life when so much of our present news cycle fixates on the pain and tribulations of Black people, and especially Black men.

“This is an opportunity to see who we are,” says Johnson of the simple but important work of his documentary project.

“Barbershops are more than places simply to get a shape-up, shave, or trim,” says Johnson, in one of two essays he wrote for the book.

“They are where Black men can speak freely and receive feedback about who we are, who we want to be, and what we believe to be true about the world around us,” writes Johnson.

In creating the portraits of Black men for “You Next,” Johnson says he was inspired by photographers including Gordon Parks and Jamel Shabazz, whose own photographs captured Black people in their neighborhoods and communities, “in a way that was positive and uplifting.”

Credit: Antonio M. Johnson

Credit: Antonio M. Johnson

To create his complex and loving portrait of the unique charms of these Black-centric spaces, Johnson traveled from his home in Brooklyn, crisscrossing the country, from Oakland, California, to Detroit, New Orleans, Montgomery, Alabama and Atlanta. His photographs document thehand-painted signage outside L.A.’s Funhouse Barber Shop or the portraits of Black heroes like Tupac, Denzel and Malcolm who ornament the walls of the Pure Essence Barber Shop in Atlanta. At Washington, D.C.’s Beauty Boutique Johnson captures a wide-eyed 10-month-old held on his mother’s lap, getting his first haircut and grizzled men whose expressions soften as they lean back in the leatherette barber chair and close their eyes. Johnson shows the transformation that is central to the barbershop experience.

“It is a transformation that happens both physically and mentally. And that is the magic and the essence of what makes ‘You Next’ special to me,” says Johnson.

“In that space,” says Johnson, “you are able to commune with your brothers, with your friends, with your family, with your neighbors.”

Credit: Antonio M. Johnson

Credit: Antonio M. Johnson

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Johnson studied broadcasting at Morgan State University and worked in various creative fields as a reality TV producer for shows including “Ink Master,” and “Framework” and in corporate marketing at Time Inc. in New York. “I was always very close to the creative process,” says Johnson. “However, I really wanted to be the person who made all the decisions from the beginning to the end and ‘You Next’ was my opportunity to do that.”

So, he took a leap of faith and stepped away from corporate life to undertake his documentation of Black barbershops.

Johnson launched a Kickstarter campaign in 2018 and raised almost $12,000.

“I was blown away by the responses and the feedback so many people gave me.”

It was just the push he needed to begin traveling to photograph “You Next.”

He was eventually able to sell “You Next,” which is his first book, to Chicago’s Lawrence Hill Books.

Johnson says his decision to eventually move to Atlanta was actually the result of his many visits to the city’s barbershops. It was while taking photographs for “You Next” that he came to appreciate the rich cultural life of the city. He even has his own local barber now, Sam Glickman of Sunset Avenue’s Privado Grooming.

Credit: Antonio M. Johnson

Credit: Antonio M. Johnson

“I fell in love with Atlanta,” admits Johnson. “I was blown away by the hospitality, the chicken at Busy Bee. It was a place that I felt immediately at home. And once the tour was over, gathering the photos, Atlanta was literally the only option for me.”

NON FICTION

“You Next: Reflections in Black Barber Shops”

by Antonio M. Johnson

Lawrence Hill Books, 217 pages, $26.99