A photographer has taken a mirrior selfie at the same barbershop where he has been going for 50 years.
Sam Farr, 78, has snapped a picture in five different decades since the 1970s, each time pictured with his same trusted barber and sporting the exact same trim.
His first photo was a black and white ‘selfie’ in 1973 which was taken using a Rolleiflex camera while his barber and life long friend Joe was cutting his hair.
The father-of-two, from Bath, Somerset, has kept up the tradition at Joe’s Giuseppe’s of Bath ever since and continued to take snaps in 1985, 2007, 2015 and 2023.
The photos show Sam cracking a smile throughout the years, during which the barbershop has changed location three times, and in each picture he is holding a new camera.
Sam Farr, 78, took his first photo, a black and white ‘selfie’, using his Rolleiflex camera in 1973 while he was getting his hair cut by his barber
He went on to take another photo using a different camera in 1985 with the same barber and life long friend Joe
Sam took snapped another pic with Joe in 2007 after the babershop owner moved locations
Sam pictured in 2015 with Joe while rocking the same look, which he describes as an ‘ageing Beatle’
Sam took his most recent picture with Joe this year using an iPhone because of his struggles with Parkinsons which make it difficult for him to hold a camera
Sam, who previously worked for the Bath Evening Chronicle, now the Bath Chronicle, has never changed his hairstyle, which he describes as an ‘ageing Beatle’, since his first trim.
However, due to his battles with poor health and Parkinson’s the former newspaper photographer’s latest photo will likely be his last, according to his daughter.
Sam joked: ‘I have always stuck with Joe because if I keep coming back, he might get it right one day. But we’ve been lifelong friends, we know each other’s families.
‘The first time I took the photo I had just bought Rolleiflex camera for about £100, a lot of money back then, and I wanted to see what I looked like.
‘I used to take photos for so many people back then but never took pictures of myself, so I decided to snap one and started a tradition.
‘He’s been cutting my hair for so long that he’s changed locations three times.
‘I hadn’t even realised it had been 50 years since our first cut until he brought it up.
‘Every time I would come in, he would always say ‘oh it’s been 30 years, 40 years’.
‘When we hit 50 years, we thought it would be special to celebrate it. He even gave me a free haircut.’
Sam has kept up the tradition of taking a photo at ‘Giuseppe’s of Bath’ (pictured) since the 1970s
The father-of-two, from Bath, Somerset, previously worked for the Bath Evening Chronicle, now the Bath Chronicle
Due to his battles with poor health and Parkinson’s the former newspaper photographer’s latest photo will likely be his last, according to his daughter
Sadly his daughter Nicky Higby, 48, says that this picture will likely be his last.
She said: ‘Unfortunately due to dad’s health issues I think this picture will probably be his final one.
‘Due to his battle with Parkinson’s and other conditions, it’s hard for him to hold a camera anymore.
‘Last time in 2015 we just about managed to do it, but this time we went for an iPhone instead. The tradition has been lovely for him and us as a family though.
‘Joe has always been a close friend of dad’s and the pictures constantly come up on social media.
‘I recently saw a post about dad’s selfies on Reddit which had thousands of comments.
‘The lovely thing is they always comment on how happy be looks. He’s a very smiley man – except when someone gets his pizza order wrong.’
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