Brilliant, energetic and skillfully shot images of headbangers mid-bang

When you look at the swathes of colour, motion and hair in Jacob Ehrbahn’s images, it makes you think that headbanging is perhaps one of the world’s purest expressions of human joy. Or if not joy, then at least something very powerful. Where punks had pogoing, metal-heads have headbanging: that strange motion of wildly moving your head (and often locks of long, rocker hair) to loud, loud music. The whiplash-skirting practice has been documented beautifully by Jacob, in images that feel celebratory and warm. These are drawn together in a new book simply entitled Headbangers and published by Powerhouse Books. Jacob used an on-camera flash to capture the rapid movements of the shiny locks the ’bangers sport, and the whirling folds of their faces. It reminded us a little of the basset hounds running Tumblr, which can only be a good thing.