Abstract: College Park’s Paris focuses on Paris Kennedy, owner and hair stylist of Paris Beauty Bar in College Park, Maryland. The salon specializes in black hair care, a service that is undervalued and at times hard to find. The salon also holds a strong sense of community as Paris’s family can often be found in the salon, as well as other hair stylists friends and family. This project seeks to bring light to a minority- and female-owned business, a strong woman overcoming societal odds.
Project Description: Black individuals have routinely been denied equal public accommodations since the beginning of America. Although this inequality has become more nuanced in recent decades, it still wreaks havoc on the lives of the black community. Statistically, black people are pulled over more, hired less and in many ways subjugated by societal norms of representation and access. Even something as simple as purchasing a “nude” colored undergarment can be a challenge for a majority of black people, mostly ending in individuals paying inflated prices for products that are designed for them and come in a color that actually matches their skin tone.
Hair care is no different. Often times, stores will have a separate section for “ethnic” hair care products, or carry none at all. Those products also tend to be more expensive. The same is true for salon hair care, even in College Park.
About 25.6 percent of University of Maryland, College Park students are black. However, there is only one business specializing in black hair care in all of College Park. This project focuses in on that business and the strong woman, Paris Kennedy, who owns and operates it.
Since 2013, Paris Beauty Bar has been providing Prince George’s County with hair care for all textures, especially natural hair. Natural hair care can be somewhat specialized and also uncommon, leaving some with limited access to the services they desire. Natural hair care stylists must be skilled with specific hair treatments and types of hair styling as well as wig coloring and hair styling. However, these services come at a higher cost due to their specialization.
Paris Kennedy, the business’s owner, has been a licensed hair stylist for over nine years, specializing in natural hair. She is also licensed for facials, waxing and makeup, which she has been doing for seven years. Kennedy is part of a small percentage of the population as a black-female small business owner. In 2018, women owned 4 out of 10 businesses in America with 47% of them being owned by minority women. Even fewer than that make up the population of black female business owners.
However, despite the societal inequalities Kennedy faces, her business continues to thrive in providing high-demand services to a community that would otherwise be deprived of them.
The salon has a calming atmosphere with tones of mint and white adorning the space. It has decorative chandeliers, artistically arranged products of hair care products and a bedazzled hand mirror with each hair stylists’ initials. The salon also has a small photo studio where Kennedy photographs clients’ finished looks. Kennedy, who also designed the space, carries a lot of pride in her salon’s aesthetic.
Kennedy has also worked to make Paris Beauty Bar a community hub with countless repeat customers including Kennedy and other hair stylists’ friends and family. All of Kennedy’s employees are black women, allowing her to further empower women in the black community.
College Park’s Paris brings you into Paris Beauty Bar and gives you an inside look at the salon’s clients’, hair stylists, services and the passion and love that flows through its doors.
Paris Kennedy stands in front of her salon, Paris Beauty Bar in College Park, Maryland on Dec. 5. Paris is both the business owner and hair stylist at the salon as well as a real estate agent. (Photo by Sage Levy)A salon client sits in Paris Kennedy’s chair at Paris Beauty Bar in College Park, Maryland on Nov. 19. The hair salon specializes in natural hair care and has subsequently created a thriving community of black women. (Photo by Sage Levy)Paris Kennedy sews real human hair into a wig in her salon, Paris Beauty Bar, in College Park, Maryland on Nov. 20. The Paris beauty bar offers a variety of services including wig-making, coloring and styling. (Photo by Sage Levy)Paris Kennedy checks her email on her cell phone in her salon, Paris Beauty Bar, in College Park, Maryland on Dec. 4. Paris is both the business owner and hair stylist at the salon and is often jumping between managerial and hair stylist tasks. (Photo by Sage Levy)Paris Kennedy styles Marcia Wilds hair in her salon, Paris Beauty Bar in College Park, Maryland, on Dec. 5. Wilds is one of many clients who come to Paris for their natural hair care needs. (Photo by Sage Levy)Paris Kennedy sits in front of the photo backdrop in her salon, Paris Beauty Bar in College Park, Maryland on Dec. 5. Paris is both the business owner and hair stylist at the salon, as well as a real estate agent. (Photo by Sage Levy)Paris Kennedy styles her aunt, Sherri Wheeler’s hair while simultaneously discussing her website update with her website designer in her salon, Paris Beauty Bar in College Park, Maryland on Dec. 4. Paris is both the business owner and hair stylist at the salon and is often jumping between managerial and hair stylist tasks. (Photo by Sage Levy)Jazzmen Peters, one of Paris Kennedy’s hair stylists at her salon, Paris Beauty Bar in College Park, Maryland holds her baby between appointments on Nov. 19. Family has a large presence in the salon with Kennedy’s children helping out as well as hair stylists’ families.Kayla Smith sits at her post as receptionist at Paris Beauty Bar in College Park, Maryland, on Nov. 22. Salon owner Paris Kennedy puts a lot of time into branding her business with marketing materials. (Photo by Sage Levy)Paris Kennedy styles her client, a University of Maryland, College Park student’s hair in her salon, Paris Beauty Bar in College Park, Maryland on Nov. 20. For University of Maryland, College Park students, Paris Beauty Bar is their nearest option for natural hair care services. (Photo by Sage Levy)Supplies sit at Paris Kennedy’s chair while she works with a client at her salon, Paris Beauty Bar, in College Park, Maryland on Nov. 19. Kennedy’s salon specializes in natural hair care which requires specific products that other salons may not have. (Photo by Sage Levy)Jazzmen Peters, one of Paris Kennedy’s employees, styles her client’s braids in Paris Beauty Bar in College Park, Maryland on Nov. 20. Not only does Kennedy offer natural hair care services through her salon, she also oversees several other hair stylists many of which she trained herself. (Photo by Sage Levy)Paris Kennedy styles her Aunt, Sherri Wheeler’s hair in her salon, Paris Beauty Bar, in College Park, Maryland on Dec. 4. Family and friends of hair stylists can often be found around the salon either as clients, helping out or hanging out. (Photo by Sage Levy)Paris Kennedy washes her client, Teneisha McIntyre’s hair in her salon, Paris Beauty Bar, in College Park, Maryland on Dec. 5. McIntyre is one of many clients who come to Paris for their natural hair care needs. (Photo by Sage Levy)Paris Kennedy works on a client’s hair in her salon, Paris Beauty Bar in College Park, Maryland on Nov. 22. Kennedy works to build a community with her hair stylists and clients and often has repeat customers. (Photo by Sage Levy)Paris Kennedy jokes with her employees while jumping between tasks in her salon, Paris Beauty Bar, in College Park, Maryland on Dec. 5. Paris is both the business owner and hair stylist at the salon and is often jumping between managerial and hair stylist tasks. (Photo by Sage Levy)
JOUR370 -Intro to Photojournalism 