Irina Werning's 'Las Pelilargas' Book Chronicles 18 Years of Long Hair Portraits

Photographer Irina Werning has released a new book, 'Las Pelilargas,' featuring nearly 90 images from her 18-year series documenting Indigenous women with extremely long hair across Latin America. Published by GOST Books, the project began in 2006 in Argentina when Werning photographed members of the Kolla community. She spent months in remote mountain towns, posting signs and organizing hair competitions to find subjects. The portraits, made through 2024, explore cultural traditions where long hair symbolizes life, thoughts, and connection to the land. Werning notes that while women often say they keep long hair simply because they like it, the deeper reason is an invisible generational tradition rooted in Latin American Indigenous beliefs that cutting hair is cutting life. The book is available on Bookshop.