ATLANTA — Elizabeth Austin and Alisha Brooks wanted to create a space where Black hair was celebrated. The life-long friends decided to join artistic forces and The Black Hair Experience, a selfie museum in Atlanta was born.
Austin, an award-winning photographer, had an idea for a passion project. She wanted to document the stories of Black women and their journey with their hair through her photography.
The passion project turned into creating The Black Hair Experience once it was introduced to Brooks.
"It would be really great if we took those experiences and we turned them into a selfie experience, an interactive space that kind of celebrated these different nostalgic moments in the Black experience and that's really how it was born," she said.
After took two years of planning and a pandemic later, The Black Hair Experience opened its first location in Atlanta in November 2020.
Austin and Brooks did not believe that this project would last.
"Initially me and her thought, 'We're going to be able to do this for 30 days and try to get the word out,'" said Brooks.
Atlanta, their first location, is their baby according to Austin. Their success in the area around Emory University led to four more BHE museums opening in cities including Dallas, Los Angeles and Washington D.C.
Their success comes from the 15 different installations available in their flagship location, each showcasing a nostalgic moment of Black hair and Black hair culture.
From showcasing a living room where you can take photos full of rollers, to a salon with an interactive experience for its visitors, the installations are synonymous with the experience of many Black women, according to Austin and Brooks.
The Black Hair Experience Installations
"We're passionate about it because we're telling the stories that we've lived, where we're creating the spaces based on our own experiences. We're both mothers. We have daughters. We both have sons. So it was really important for us to create something that they could see themselves in that they could see themselves represented in," said the co-founders.
Apart from showing the Black Hair Experience with their installations, Austin and Brooks also provide community outreach programs for young girls.
"We have our weekly workshops and we open those up to other nonprofits to bring in young girls to continue the message that all Black hair is beautiful," said Austin.
Austin and Brooks have also partnered with 15 other Black-owned businesses and have their products in their museum retail shop. They urge visitors to come and support the Black businesses even if they aren't buying a ticket to the selfie museum.
"We always welcome people to come in and shop from this space, even if you're not necessarily getting a ticket to the experience. We want to do all we can to try to bring awareness and growth to other Black-owned businesses as well," said Brooks.
Austin and Brooks' goal is to create a space where Black hair is celebrated for their visitors.
"We really wanted to create this messaging that all Black is beautiful. No matter how you choose to wear, you should feel comfortable and confident in doing so," said Austin and Brooks.