As men from across the globe descended on the World Beard and Moustache Championships in Alaska in 2009, one man captured the contenders in all their glory.
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER: Matthew Rainwaters, an editorial features photographer based in Austin, Texas, convinced a friend to grow his beard
to compete in the biennial championship. Once there, the photographer was enthralled by the stylish and imaginative creations and decided to shoot portraits of the competitors. ‘At the competition, when everybody was done
to compete in the biennial championship. Once there, the photographer was enthralled by the stylish and imaginative creations and decided to shoot portraits of the competitors. ‘At the competition, when everybody was done
Proud: A man with a very long beard that twists all the way around his neck, proudly displays his facial hair
competing, I would pull them aside and take their portrait,’ Rainwaters said. ‘Aesthetically, I wanted to create photographs that were very similar, almost documentary, clinical looking. The only thing I really wanted to change was the facial hair.’
Curled: A man with a stylish curled beard poses for the camera at the biennial event
Bushy: A man in a wooly hat shows of his curly long beard for Rainwaters
Plentiful: A bearded man who attended the championship in Anchorage displays his greywhiskers
Smoker: A pip-smoking man shows off his two-tone moustache and lengthy beard
Facial hair in all forms, from the immense woolly mane of Albert Schmid from Team Switzerland, to the vast lip antlers of Memili Ristioglu from Istanbul, Turkey, was on show at the event in Anchorage, Alaska. The resulting portraits feature competitors from around the world proudly displaying their colourful and downright wacky beards.
Unique: Rainwaters captures a man with a curled ginger moustache for his book BEARD
Bristly: This man would have done well in the competition with his bushy look
Fierce: This gentleman displays his version of the goatee with a ginger pointed moustache
Competitor: Once contestant displayed a thick, long moustache that was curled at the ends
The photographer has now turned the photographs into a book entitled ‘Beard’ which also features essays from the subjects themselves. ‘This project has been a labor of love and I'm so excited to see it in print,' said Rainwaters. 'I hope that everybody finds the portraits inside as unique and interesting as I do.'
Cool: A man with dreadlocks and interesting facial hair poses for Matt
Hard work: This man's lengthy brown beard would have taken years to grow
Colour-coordinated: This man has matched the colour of his suit to the colour of his expertly-crafted facial hair
Fluffy: Rainwaters shoots a man whose grey beard sits neatly upon his shoulders
