Seattle

nathan@nathanfrankephotography.com (Nathan Franke Photography) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:37:48 GMT

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Barber Shop

nathan@nathanfrankephotography.com (Nathan Franke Photography) — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 06:26:25 GMT

]]>When I was young, fathers would take their sons to the barber shop to get their hair trimmed. It used to be a staple of the American tradition. Men and boys would wake up early on Saturday morning to get their hair shorn so they wouldn't look like a Beatles reject. But the traditions are dying out. More males go to salons, and barbershops themselves are becoming fancier, metrosexual establishments for the patronage of hipsters and androgynes.

In the barbershops of my youth, everyone talked to everyone else; the barbers themselves usually said the least. It was a community--you'd catch up with neighbors, old friends from school, folks from the other side of the train tracks.

I've tried to find a suitable barbershop as an adult. I haven't yet, so my wife cuts my hair. I admit that I'm old fashioned and politically incorrect--I want the comfortable hydraulic barber shop chair, I want a man to cut my hair, and I want to come out of there smelling like a pack of Camel cigarettes even though I don't smoke, I want Randy Travis playing softly on the radio, and I don't want to make an appointment.

Instead of getting that, I walk in and hope that the next appointment cancels. I get mod salon chairs and profanity-laden, screaming death metal at 110 decibels. I leave smelling like I bathed in Axe Body Spray. Conversation is minimal at best--the waiting customers are too engrossed with their iDevices to notice anyone else. Sports scores, weather forecasts, and the farm report are only a Wi-Fi authentication page away--what need is there to converse?

With these photos, I wanted to show some of the appeal of the old-fashioned barbershop, before that American idyll disappeared for good.

Patti Christie

nathan@nathanfrankephotography.com (Nathan Franke Photography) — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 05:39:57 GMT

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blog photos

nathan@nathanfrankephotography.com (Nathan Franke Photography) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:57:51 GMT

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Home

nathan@nathanfrankephotography.com (Nathan Franke Photography) — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 04:39:49 GMT

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Franke

nathan@nathanfrankephotography.com (Nathan Franke Photography) — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 22:15:19 GMT

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Wildlife

nathan@nathanfrankephotography.com (Nathan Franke Photography) — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 07:09:38 GMT

]]>Shot at Pilanesberg Game Reserve in South Africa