Three People In A Barbershop

When I was walking in Jakarta, I saw a barbershop on the corner of the city. I wondered if it was because it was a weekday afternoon. There was no customer, and the barbershop didn't seem to be busy. Inside the shop were the barber, his friend, and a boy, each of whom was having a leisurely time.

I looked at the back wall and saw pictures of several men. Hair catalogs. Apparently, this was a barbershop for men. Come to think of it, barbershops I saw in India, barbershops I saw in Myanmar were all geared toward men. In every barbershop, there were only men as customers. I wondered where women were getting their hair cut. I wondered if there were barbershops for women in the quiet places where I could not see them as I was wandering around town. I'm not sure.

When I pointed my camera into the languid atmosphere of the barbershop, the proprietor of the barbershop struck a self-conscious pose with his cigarette-carrying hand on the chair. The man, sitting with his back to me, laughed at it. And the boy who had been munching on a snack was hiding in the shadows and staring at us.