Oskar
“Seeing older trans and non-binary bodies in all their beautiful, exposed, varied expressions of form is an act of powerful rebellion. Every line, wrinkle and scar speaks to the courage it takes to walk another day with dignity. Knowing what it is to be so completely and perfectly human.
My life with my body has been a journey of trying things on to find a place of physical comfort with myself. It can be through clothes, jewellery, hair styles & colours, tattoos, piercing, body modification, scent & textures, gym bro life style, hormones and surgery. All is code that we signal to the world to find our tribe, our place of acceptance and safety. To find your place takes courage and time.
An early taste of liberation came in a barbershop on Portobello Road,1980. I was wearing a black leather jacket that I kept zipped up to flatten my chest, and old baggy faded 501s, to hide any other signals of femininity. Taking a seat in that old red leather and chrome chair, my jacket creaking against the seat back. A dapper elderly West Indian gentleman barber agreed to give me a short back and sides, a rockabilly fade, and showed me how to Brill Cream my quiff. He seemed amused, but not at all judgemental. I walked out of there transformed, with a swagger, more myself…… I have always loved barber chairs, they are things of great stylised beauty, where one sits hoping to also become a more stylised version of self. They are Iconic, Throne like. Everyone looks special and magnificent in a barbers chair……..
I am here. NOW. I am holding THIS space, my visibility makes it SAFE, for those that follow. So they can do the same and so much more for those that follow them……we are a continuum.”
Oskar (he/him)
Oskar is a queer trans elder who carries his identity with care, reflection and lived experience. Mixed race, both white and brown, he has spent a lifetime moving through love in many forms, with men, women and people in between and questioning. For Oskar, queer became that place of safety. Not a label to explain everything, but a space where he feels safe. A way of holding complexity without needing to resolve it.
He expresses who he is through his body, shaped and reshaped over time, through clothes chosen with intention, and through presence rather than volume. His voice is quiet. His footsteps are soft. Empathy and compassion define how he moves through the world.
Some moments remain private, held close rather than shared. Being seen, for Oskar, does not require full exposure. Choice and self-protection matter.
His message to younger queer people reaches far beyond the present moment: Look into the sky. Look often. You cannot yet imagine the possibilities that will reveal themselves as you move through life. Hang in there. Life is astonishing.
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.