Nigerian photographer J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere (1930-2014) is best known for his photographs documenting a range of traditional and modern hairstyles worn by Nigerian women. He began the series in 1968 while travelling across the country with the Nigerian Arts Council, which was established to promote national culture following Nigerian independence from British colonial rule in 1960.

‘Fro Fro’ is the nickname for this hairstyle, which Ojeikere attributed to the Mikiki family. The hairstyle would be worn for all occasions, traditionally by unmarried women. The Yoruba people of Southwest Nigeria and West Africa, from which many of these hairstyles derive, often adopted different braiding styles depending on their marital status. Hairstyles with braiding in a horizontal direction from ear to ear were generally worn by single women.

Over the course of his life Ojeikere recorded almost a thousand hairstyles, each photographed using the same format. He always included a close range rear view perspective, which illustrated his belief that the styles were ‘sculptures for a day’. The series is of historic and anthropological significance, as well as aesthetic value.

The V&A acquired eight photographs by J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere documenting hairstyles and headties as part of the Staying Power project. Staying Power is a five year partnership between the V&A and Black Cultural Archives. The project aims to explore black British experience from the 1950s to the 1990s through photographs acquired by the V&A and oral histories conducted by Black Cultural Archives.