Life through a lens: anne veck’s most iconic images

Award-winning avant garde hairdresser Anne Veck shares her most iconic images with HJ. She  is best known for creating striking looks that tell a powerful story. She is charismatic, motivating and creative and has been artistic director for Anne Veck salons in Oxfordshire since 1991.

Anne Veck shares her most iconic images

Colour Motion

“This was one of my first commercial collections, which I did in 2010. I love the movement and energy of the shoot. The looks are still current with bold colour statements in the first image and pastel tones in the second one.”

Moonlight

“This was my first avant-garde collection and it was shortlisted for the Avant Garde category at HJ’s British Hairdressing Awards, sponsored by Schwarzkopf Professional in 2007. I wanted to create a beautiful collection where the model looked a bit alien. I was so pleased with the result. Marie and Marco Loumiet, the photographic and stylist team I worked with at the time, really captured the vibe I wanted to create.”

Valkyries

“This is from my British Hairdressing Awards Avant Garde collection in 2012. In Norse mythology, the Valkyrie decides who falls in battle and who lives. This idea of women in total control inspired me to create my collection. The images are powerful, strong and vigorous, yet beautiful, intricate and detailed.”

A Day at the Races

“I have two passions bordering on obsession when it comes to hair. One is intricate plaiting, the other one is a finger wave. This image is from my 2013 collection called ‘A Day at the Races’ features intricate plaiting. It took me three hours to create this look with three stylists plaiting together but I love the precision of the work. This image is also known as ‘hats’!”

Silhouette

“These images from my Silhouette collection feature my obsession for fingers waves. I felt a desire to pay homage to the stylish impact of French haute couture and, in particular the inspiration Alexandre de Paris has on my work. I created iconic and extreme images in black and white which focused solely on the hair, featuring textures, shapes and styles within the shadows. Silhouette is one of my most successful collections as it won the Southern Hairdresser of the Year category at the British Hairdressing Awards, sponsored by Schwarzkopf Professional in 2016 as well as AIPP’s Best Photo award and Revlon Professional’s Style Masters Global award.”

Toxic Fashion

“In this 2019 collection I expressed my horror and outrage at the damage the fashion industry is doing to both the environment and people's lives. I wanted to encourage people to see hair as a canvas for creating inspirational and awe-inspiring artworks. Avant garde hairdressing pushes the boundaries of hair colour, texture and styling to deliver a powerful and important message. We shot in a scrap yard and the intention was to highlight how destructive the fashion world is to people and the planet. I used waste materials including smearing the hair with paint, melting plastic into the hair and plaiting it with wire.”