Fall 2006 Hot Shot, Joe Fornabaio, was one of eleven renowned photographers selected for the USA Network's Character Project. During the summer of 2008, the photographers--including Mary Ellen Mark, Richard Renaldi, and Sylvia Plachy--set out about the United States to document characters far and wide: off highways, in farms, in the city, and in the country. Fornabaio's project focused around the common American ritual of the haircut. He ventured into salons and barber shops of all calibers, seeking the "visceral experience we share with our stylist or barber."

Forabaio's images join the work of the other photographers in a forthcoming book titled, American Character: A Photographic Journey, published by Chronicle Books this month. The work will also be displayed in a two day exhibition sponsored by the Aperture Foundation open today and tomorrow from 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. at Stephan Weiss Studio, 711 Greenwich Street.