Irina Werning

I search for them everywhere. I travel to small towns in the mountains, distribute leaflets, organise long hair competitions, till i find them. Why do women in Argentina wear their hair longer than in most Western countries? A hybrid culture with Indigenous traditions, where cutting hair represents cutting ones thoughts, or even falling into disgrace or near death. For this series, I approach anonymous women and asked them to pose with their backs to the camera in their natural environments.

This is the story of Chini, a chinese crested dog. She came into my life in London 2008, when my friends asked me to look after their house and dogs while on holidays. I had never lived with dogs, I hardly even noticed their presence until I got to know Chini. I started making little sets where she was free to act our little human ways. Her photographic journey takes us into the very heart of the human comedy.