The First Issue
Introducing The Redhead Project, photographer Keith Barraclough chats with casting director and producer Beth Schiff, project firsts
Beginnings
This monthly letter is about a personal photography project that began serendipitously back in February 2013.
Like the premise of the movie Sliding Doors, one single event drastically changed our future: Keith’s chance encounter with a blue-eyed redhead at a corporate photoshoot. Had the same person been bald, this might have become The Bald Project.
That same week Keith had read a National Geographic article about the likely extinction of redheads in 100 years. He personally knew only one redhead at the time. And neither Keith nor I are redheads. He was intrigued.
Processing that redheaded executive’s corporate headshots later that day, Keith recalled being struck by his presence. He got to thinking, who is the person behind the façade? Thus the idea for this collaborative personal photography project that tells redheads’ unique stories was born. Ten years and 507 redheads later, the project is much more than a labor of skill and a creative outlet; it’s as much a labor of love and a community.
This letter is inspired by that community; it’s a “roundup” of inspirational stories; each monthly issue will feature conversations with two interesting redheads from the project who share common interests and careers but have different paths and perspectives.
This first issue is a look behind the lens, at Keith, his photography and The Redhead Project. And some trivia “firsts” for the project.
Like the Redhead Project, the initial direction will probably evolve. It’s exciting. But it’s also a bit daunting, too, to write and publish on a platform that’s full of prolific writers and journalists (neither of which I am.)
As I sat down to begin writing this, my eye wandered to the bookshelf and caught the optimistic, inviting bright yellow cover of the book Beginners, which I’d spotted and picked up in a bookstore a year ago. Its author, Tom Vanderbilt, was a college classmate of mine.
And in it I found the words of encouragement I needed. Tom writes, “It’s for anyone who ever started out, who was unsure, who was afraid to ask a question in a roomful of people who all seemed as if they knew what they were doing…It’s about small acts of reinvention, at any age, that can make life seem magical. It’s about learning new things, one of which might be you.”
So in that spirit I’m embracing beginning this letter. My intent is to have fun and make it fun for readers. The content will evolve. It’s a work in progress. And I welcome reader feedback along the way.
Introductions
Our friend Beth Schiff sat down on Zoom a few weeks ago to chat with Keith about his photography and the story of The Redhead Project for this first issue.
A casting director, producer and entrepreneur, Beth has an inspiring career; please read about it here: youchoosecreative.com.
Quoting her Instagram bio, Beth is “a talent booker, a chef seeker, a storyteller.” Like Keith, she digs deep to understand the core of a person for a story to be told.
Keith met Beth through our mutual friend Rachel Reiss, an award-winning senior casting director at Liz Lewis Casting Partners. Beth has in turn, referred many redheads to the project over the years. Both Beth and Rachel helped Keith test shoot remotely with CLOS App and develop The Redhead Project Virtual in late 2020 / early 2021.
Beth and Rachel’s ongoing generosity and support for Keith’s work and the project over the years are testament to the transformative power of beginning and of community.
View Beth and Keith’s full conversation.
Excerpted Q&A:
For those who might not know you or haven’t seen much of your work: give us your elevator pitch.
I love digging deep to capture the authenticity, the heart, the core of my subjects, empowering them to shine. I’m best known for my portraits of people and dogs (one of my favorite long-term assignments was taking headshots of the competing puppies for Puppy Bowl, which airs annually on Super Bowl Sunday on Animal Planet.). And of course, I love capturing the many facets of a person, as I do in The Redhead Project. But I also love observing and capturing the details in the everyday, sometimes overlooked, like my personal series Tarmac Art and The Last Dance.
Who do you take portraits of?
You’ve been called the Portrait Whisperer. Why?
I’m curious about the evolution of The Redhead Project.
You only photograph real redheads. Is that because of the National Geographic article that we are really a breed that may be going extinct?
How do you approach each shoot?
Watch the trailers for The Redhead Project and The Redhead Project Virtual:
Do you know what props people are bringing beforehand?
Do you have any especially memorable photoshoots?
What unexpected benefits or results have you found as a result of this project?
The longevity of the project is a surprising, direct result of the community it fostered. As non-redheads Kate and I had no idea that the idea to capture the personalities of redheads —who they really are behind the façade of their instantly recognizable red hair — would resonate so deeply with redheads and their families. Hearing from redheads that they appreciate that the project showcases redheads’ attributes as well-rounded humans is incredibly gratifying, as are the friendships we’ve made nationally and abroad as a result of the project.
What have you learned about redheads?
Redheads are very passionate about showing their individuality. Whether or not they grew up loving or resenting their red hair, they had to learn to live with it and embrace that distinction - and defy assumptions!
Describe future plans for this project. Manifest how you would like this project to grow over the next ten years.
Kate and I would love to have the opportunity to make a film about the project including behind-the-scenes footage of photoshoots and interviews with redheads about the experience, maybe with a focus specifically on reshooting kids five or 10 years after their initial photoshoots. It would be really interesting to explore how their personalities and interests have evolved and remained the same over time.
I’d also love to have an exhibit and a book of the project. Right before the pandemic temporarily paused traveling with the project, we were actively considering possible event and exhibit space connections in Savannah, since Kate and I have family in the area and the project has developed quite a following there and in Atlanta (20% of the redheads photographed so far have been in Georgia.)
We’re always looking to expand the diversity of redheads ethnically as well as geographically.
If you were the subject of a shoot now and were asked to bring props, what would you bring and why?
Right after New York City went into lockdown due to the pandemic in late March 2020. Kate challenged me to pose for 30 days of personality portraits in April, one shoot each day, in the spirit of the Redhead Project using things we had in the apartment (including our black Lab, Kuma.) Many of the props I chose were largely for comic effect. I don’t knit. Kate does. Aside from some of the things featured in the series that I do really like— smoothies, peanut butter, ice cream and running— a top interest would be soccer. I played in college.
To view the whole series as a GIF on Keith’s bio page, click on the image.
What’s your advice for someone who is thinking about contacting you and getting in front of the camera?
Go for it! All you need is a desire to tell your story and willingness to collaborate.
Project Firsts
1st redhead photographed for The Redhead Project
1st redhead to be photographed remotely for Redhead Project Virtual
1st redhead photographed internationally for Redhead Project Virtual
1st identical triplets photographed
1st twins photographed
1st identical twins photographed
1st twins as “props” for their parents
1st twins as “props” for Redhead Project Virtual
Thanks for reading. See you here August 15th for the next roundup! For more information about the Redhead Project including how to participate, please visit redheadproject.net.
Love this, Kate!
Well done Kate