ORLANDO GILI / MALE ALOPECIANS

Orlando’s most recent project is an empowering and sensitively captured portrait series about men with alopecia, inspired by the photographer’s own alopecia universalis condition.

The portraits were shot in a London studio and include both individual and group portraits, with supporting quotes. The core motivation behind the series is to help raise awareness of the specific complexities of being a man with alopecia.

The project will hopefully also be hugely beneficial to children and teenagers who are going through the experience of having alopecia for the first time.

‘Last month I worked on a portrait series with Alopecia UK to highlight men who have lost all their hair. This was the most personal of personal projects, I've had alopecia universalis (AU) since late 2021. The experience of losing all your hair in six months is brutal, but it hasn't held me back, and I felt I was in a unique position as a photographer of people to help raise awareness.

The series has a male focus, which is what interested the charity. It taps into issues of male vulnerability and identity - not feeling it's socially acceptable to talk about feelings, and how you can come across differently to people with a bald head. It's now common place for guys to shave their heads, so it's assumed it's not a big deal. There are few men with the condition who are vocal in the media, and hardly any form of social support networks aimed at men. From the perspective of a portrait photographer, I wanted to show how much hair frames the face, whether eyebrows, eyelashes, beards, or the mops on top.’ Orlando Gili

To book Orlando for a commission email us at hello@lisapritchard.com and we will get back to you straight away!