Eric Page
“The Triumph of Self-Delusion
From a Welsh toddler perched on a plank to a decade at the Queer barbers off St James St – the barber chair is where we gays remake ourselves, choose our masculine masks. Barbers are the stage managers of my masculinity show. At the shoot, Chris shepherded my tremulous vanity with patience and fun. Coiffured but UnCut.
Stripped of clothes, body still, shrouded and vulnerable while sharp blades hover near your throat—there are no secrets here. Bits of me fall to the floor, swept away, unwanted. I must trust my barber completely: to be superb, to know his art, to understand what this cut means, to reign in my overreach. I’d have a beehive if I could!
And here I am in my skates—they gave me muscle and raw pounding power but also taught me to glide, frictionless, above it all. I’m both power and camp, solid engine and ethereal steam, athletic and balletic. Eight radiant wheels taking me anywhere I want, swiftly, under my own agency: an elegant, lithesome gay juggernaut.
The triumph of self-delusion!”
Eric Page (he/him)
Living and working in the city, including as arts critic for Scene magazine, Eric is a silver-haired gay bloke who reads, skates, thinks and talks too much. He sings, tries to be a good person, stumbles often, and lives as an ironic brute. He’s married to a dashing Portuguese husband and still can’t quite believe his luck.
For Eric, being queer means freedom.
The joy of defining his own life – who he loves, where he lives, how he shows up each day. It’s fun, messy, and gloriously authentic.
He remembers the night he felt truly seen. Standing on the main stage at St David’s Hall in Cardiff, surrounded by 500 queer voices, ready to sing Sosban Fach – the song his nan once taught him.
The lights were hot, but the warmth in his chest burned brighter. His mother sharing his pride. This was Queer Cymru.
When the first note rang out, something clicked. Welsh and queer weren’t two separate worlds after all – they were threads of the same story.
That night, he sang himself into existence: fully Welsh, fully queer, and fully worthy of belonging.
Eric expresses his identity in motion – skating, singing, teasing, gymming, strutting, laughing, twinkling. He looms and smoulders, supports and steps back, reaches out and makes space. He’s bold, gentle, and gloriously eclectic – a full spectrum of gay expression.
His message to his younger self – and to every queer kid – is simple:
Everything you need to be, you already are.
You are strong, beautiful and worthy of love.
Life will be magnificent, eventually.
This is UNCUT — a raw, striking portrait series by award-winning photographer Chris Jepson capturing the power and pride of Queer Joy, shot in a barber’s chair. No filters, no retouching, no compromise. Just bold, beautiful people taking up space exactly as they are.