At Paris Photo 2025, British photographer Francesca Allen turns an eccentric Lithuanian hair contest into a meditation on identity and inherited rituals.
For its return to Paris Photo, Chloé presents ‘Konkursas’, a new photographic series by Francesca Allen under the creative direction of Chemena Kamali. As part of the second edition of Chloé Arts, the project traces Allen’s journey to Kaunas, Lithuania, where she immersed herself in the annual contest for extraordinarily long hair, observing how ritual and spectacle shape self-presentation.
What began as curiosity becomes a layered study of how young women express identity through customs passed down across generations. On the runway, participants pause while judges measure every strand with care, then step into a finale that echoes folklore and performance. Between these moments, Allen lingers on quiet gestures and unguarded glances, revealing a tension between collective choreography and intimate selfhood.
‘Konkursas’ treats the body as both subject and witness. The images dwell on textures and details that suggest continuity, from braids and ribbons to fabric that moves like a second skin. Rather than irony, Allen chooses tenderness and attention, a stance that resonates with the Maison’s emphasis on female agency and freedom of expression.
The exhibition extends into print with a book co-published by Steidl in December 2025, offering a lasting conversation between photography and the narratives of modern womanhood. Seen together, the show and publication map an orbit where beauty rituals become documents of belonging, and where performance opens a passage to private reflection.
In revisiting a seemingly niche competition, Allen stages a broader question about how contemporary life is still threaded by inherited ceremonies. ‘Konkursas’ answers with portraits that honor individuality while acknowledging the comfort of tradition, joining fashion, culture and image-making in a language that feels both exacting and humane.
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