100 Strangers Project - 26/100 / by Michael Pung

"I'm meeting a friend here for professional help."

Those were the words Van uttered to me when I inquired about his style and his hair.  Up until last year, Van had enjoyed possessing a copious amount of hair on his scalp when he realised that he was losing it at a rapid rate.  As it turns out, the prognosis was that it was damaged from the braids that he had last year.  This was why he was outside Shoreditch High Street Station the day that I met him, waiting for a friend to take him to a hair specialist to save his hair and perhaps even reverse the damage that has been done.

Regardless of the situation with his hair though, I thought that Van still had a striking look to him.  He exclaimed to that he started growing his beard to balance out his hair loss. 

I was on my way to my own hair appointment that day and fortunately for me, it was for less dire reasons. Van's predicament really made me think about how lucky I am with my hair and made me realise how important it is to look after your hair.  

Thanks for taking part in the project Van and hope things went well with the appointment!