Hats and Memory

I was walking into Soho Square when I spotted someone wearing a vintage traditional dark chocolate brown Astrakhan Karakul hat, and it immediately brought back memories of early childhood where I’d seen the same hats worn by male members of London’s Persian Jewish Community.

Here’s a photo that predates my birth by decades and is a studio portrait of my paternal grandmother Bibi’s relatives. Bibi, whose Hebrew name was Dvora, was the daughter of Moshe Ben Eliahu Mulla and Sarah Bat Binyamin Namdar. This is a very early photo of Bibi’s parents and brother. The image was taken in Merv in Turkmenistan. I don’t quite understand the date at the bottom but I’m assuming it was taken in 1920:

Above, Lynton Talbot in his vintage Astrakhan hat. We had a chat and in addition to a mutual appreciation for each other’s hats, discovered a shared background in teaching visual culture. Lynton co-runs a gallery in Wardour Street called TINA.

I realised I’d previously photographed a man in an Astrakhan hat at the winter Grand Flaneur Walk last November and I had experienced that feeling of curiosity and recognition.

When my father died back in 2004 I kept his old photos and a few personal objects including his bowler hat which his initials on the inside brim. However I have no record or memory of him actually wearing it :

My kids took a liking to the hat and I do have some early digital photos of my son Dan peeping out from under his duvet donning his “bobo”‘s bowler hat:

In terms of memory and continuity from my own perspective, I would say that the beret is a hat I’ve worn since I was a teenager, therefore spanning over 50 years!

I’ve always liked the retro style of the beret. Below a scan of one of my father’s old photos featuring his relatives on a beach. I vaguely remember them – I believe he did magic tricks and went by the Anglicised name of Uncle Simon as well as the Persian Dosh Lotfolloh (sic).

Above, a scan of a photo taken during a Purim party in the at Stamford Hill’s Persian Synagogue. I am wearing a white beret, and receiving a prize from my late Uncle Khalil. I had dressed up as Bonnie, inspired by Faye Dunaway in the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde. The photo probably dates from the late 60s as I cut my hair short around that time.

Next, me in a blue beret and retro sunglasses pointing a toy gun at Rossano Sanavio in Padova in 1979/1980. I think we were trying to create a homage to French New Wave cinema, and that the inspiration was the director Jean-Luc Godard:

Above a selfie taken at an exhibition of one of my favourite photographers, Daido Moriyama, back in 2023

Next a series of recent street photographs and portraits featuring berets. The first three shots were taken in the Kings Cross Area:

A few from Soho:

And finally one of Soho local Julian, walking down Frith Street with an antique rug casually draped over his shoulder: