I regularly get booked for London Event Photography and this weekend was the turn of the Hairdressing Council for their Student of the Year Competition. As a London and Sussex based Wedding Photographer, I’m often asked to cover all kinds of events and this was the second year I’ve covered the student competition final. Here’s last year’s post if you missed it.
The competition itself took place at L’Oreal’s prestigious HQ in Hammersmith where all the 2nd and 3rd year finalists gathered to take part. The judges again this year included celebrity hairdresser Andrew Barton (of 10 years younger fame), Yesmin O’Brien, Artistic Director for Sean Hanna Salons and Jayne Schauenburg, NVQ trainer, mentor and former winner of this competition. The finalists had an hour to complete their chosen styles and we saw some very creative colours, cuts and techniques being used – some 80’s revival, strong vintage Hollywood looks and lots of current trends. I had to dodge a LOT of hairspray whilst shooting!! After the judging, we were all whisked off by coach to Salon International at ExCel London, where all the finalists were then called on-stage in front of a crowd of several hundred with their models, and the winners of level 2 and level 3 were then announced. A bit of a nerve-wracking moment for some of them!!
Presentations were made by Andrew Barton and award winning celebrity hairdresser Lisa Shepherd (Lisa Shepherd Salons, ’10 years younger’ fame) who did a great job looking after all the students. It was impressive seeing so many young, talented hairdressers participating and the amazing end results of all their hard work. Congratulations again to all those who took part, in particular the 2013 Winners, Danielle Cooper & Josh Parr. The Hairdressing Council campaigns to make state registration compulsory for all hairdressers and to raise standards in the industry. Interested – take a look at their site.
This year’s newest ambassador is the talented Jamie Stevens, hairdresser-in-residence for The ‘X Factor’, ‘ This Morning’, ‘Gok’s Fashion Fix’ and ‘How To Look Good Naked’ and there are lots of iconic award winning celebrity hairdressers also backing the campaign for registration. Check out the Hairdressing Council for more info. Finally – here are a few photos from the day. If you’ve an event you need photographic coverage of, get in touch!
