Hairstylist and photographer JC Verona was in the process of planning an exhibition of his new work when Covid-19 brought the world to a standstill, prompting him to release the project as a charity photobook instead. Titled Dead Beauty, the book features subdued portraits of young men disrupted by flashes of vibrant, colourful hair.

Hair has always played a big part in Verona’s life, and he describes his “lifelong emotional connection” to the medium. “My late mother was a hairdresser and I followed in her footsteps from the age of 15,” he says. “I created this series to unlock talking about death as it can sometimes be uneasy and make us feel anxious. The intention is to push away the idea of death having to be a painful subject.” Furthermore, Verona says, the enduring qualities of hair make it a suitably poignant material, as it can be viewed as a lasting remnant of life. “Hair doesn’t fade in time. Even once the hair is cut from our heads it is still transforming, that DNA is still there.”

Currently quarantined in London, Verona is doing his best to stay busy. “I’ve been working on a little photo project about the lockdown, and doing a free course from the MoMA – it’s amazing to see how those institutions are giving free access to everybody.”