Claudio's Barber Shop

One of the few Italians who has not left East Harlem is Claudio Caponigro, who's been cutting hair at his little barber shop on 116th Street for almost 60 years.



Everything you might want to know about Claudio is in this excellent and extensive article by Joseph Berger of the New York Times. There's not much for me to add, but I did go to see Claudio recently, on the day of the Dance of the Giglio, for a shave and a haircut ($15). He didn't say much as he made quick work of the hair on my head.



For the shave, he tilted me back in one of his 110-year-old, pistachio-green chairs and lathered my face with warm foam. I stared up through a dirty skylight in the ceiling as he ran his razor over my beard, slapped me with musk aftershave, and patted me dry.

The whole thing was over much too fast.

• All my Claudio's photos