This new editoriaI from Isra Quiroz and Manuel Zuñiga is a masterclass in working together while staying apart. The hairstylist and photographer, who live just a few streets apart, found a way to collaborate without breaking social distancing rules. “We were working together on the concept all the way through,” says Quiroz, “I started playing around with some wigs, thinking about shapes and lines and how to connect them all into one mood, and sent pictures to Manuel throughout so he was aware of what I was creating”. He sent the finished wigs to Zuñiga by Uber, who constructed and shot the set-ups while Quiroz contributed hairstyling pointers over FaceTime. 

The duo are based in Mexico City, and Quiroz describes the energy of the city since lockdown as “complicated. Not everyone can be self-isolated, there’s a lot of people that need to go out every day to earn money to buy food. And some of the privileged people that can stay home judge the others that can’t so it’s very divided. I think as Mexicans we live with fear because of violence and corruption every day so this just adds another threat to the mix.”

Quiroz says his source of comfort is keeping busy, “cleaning my stuff, my hair kit, brushes and wigs. I’m trying to create new projects and keep positive. All my friends are artists so we keep in touch. I think we’re a strong community and we help each other during this process of self-isolation.”