Photographer Irina Werning has spent 18 years traveling across Latin America to document Indigenous women with exceptionally long hair for her series "Las Pelilargas." Her new book, published by GOST Books, features nearly 90 portraits taken between 2006 and 2024, starting with the Kolla community in Argentina. Werning sought subjects by posting signs in remote mountain towns and organizing hair competitions, capturing a tradition rooted in ancestral beliefs that hair connects to life, thoughts, and the land.
The project matters because it preserves and celebrates an Indigenous cultural practice that is both ancient and evolving. Werning's work reveals how long hair symbolizes continuity and subtle rebellion among young women, challenging assumptions about tradition in modern Latin America. The book offers a rare visual archive of a disappearing custom, emphasizing cultural pride and intergenerational identity.