Robbie Kaye was trained as a classical pianist. She came to photography looking for visual melodies. She found a captivating study at the beauty parlor.

A series of Kaye’s photographs, Beauty and Wisdom, is featured in the Griffin Museum at the Stoneham Theatre in Stoneham, MA, March 20 – May 11, 2014. It runs parallel to the theater’s productions “Somethings Afoot” and “Unbleached American.”

A reception is March 27, 2014 6:30-8:00 p.m.

Beauty and Wisdom highlights the women of the beauty parlor. They have been going regularly to the salon once a week, not as a luxury, but as a necessity for most of their adult years. Kaye explores the graceful, courageous and brave surroundings in which these women age. “Ironically, these women opened doors for generations of women,” says Kaye. “They are now part of an invisible generation.”

“The women in this fading generation may be invisible to many, but hey are quite visible to me,” says Kaye. It is even more apparent to me since I began driving throughout the country to photograph and interview them for Beauty and Wisdom.”

Kaye, originally from New York, now resides in California.