There is certainly nothing to get bored by in Hidden Identities . The photobook ( published this week by IDEA ) is dynamic and playful, full of kinetic energy, vivid colours and fun wigs. There's the crimped, peroxide blonde style straight out of the 80s; wigs in bright blues, greys, coppers and reds; a bombshell blow-out look that pays tribute to the original supers, including Gerber's mother Cindy Crawford. Unlike Palau's signature hair tests – beautiful, still images where the hair becomes almost works of sculpture – here the images of Gerber are pure movement, an effect achieved by filming the model on his phone and then screen grabbing moments from the videos, which Palau then had photocopied at his local Staples to emphasise the blurry, pixelated elements.
The result is closer to a DIY zine, or a “document” as he calls it, than a glossy coffee table book, which is exactly how Palau wanted it; the lo-fi, “roughed up” quality of it speaking to his subversive, punk ethos. “It wasn't meant to be a work of high art photography,” he says. “I almost feel like it's a pop video being put in a book. Just a quick moment. I look at the images more as a collective not as individual stills. To me, it's a speedy flipbook of all these different hairstyles.” Here Palau shares all about how the book came together, getting nervous about taking on the role of photographer, and how Gerber found moments of authenticity amidst the wig madness.
“I did a book about three years ago [#HAIRTESTS]. I took pictures on my iPhone when I did hair tests for a designer's show and then I just thought, ‘Oh I'm going to make a book of these.' I love collaborating with people, with photographers and all that, but it's nice to do something completely on your own; to do a project from a conceptual idea in your head and then see it through to a final thing. After the last book, I was working with Kaia and I said ‘would you like to do something together?' I wasn't quite sure what I meant really. I didn't know what it was going to end up being, I didn't have a master plan for it.
