Tim
he/him
Tim’s large upper back tattoo took shape over a long process of research and chance. He spent time asking strangers if he could photograph their tattoos, gathering design elements before settling on a concept. He found his artist through an unlikely route: a New Year’s Eve encounter at Woof in Berlin with a guy from Brighton, a conversation that eventually led him to the person who’d create the piece.
The design represents family. Three Yorkshire Roses, each slightly different, stand for Tim and his two children, supported by a Scottish Thistle representing his husband, the whole composition built as something he was happy to commit to for the rest of his life.
Body Language.
“For over thirty years, my work has centred on visibility, authorship and who gets to be seen.
This project continues my long-term commitment to photographing LGBTQIA+ lives.
For a lot of LGBTQ+ people, modifying the body is a way of marking a transition, standing in for something lost, or taking back a body that wasn’t always theirs to shape in the first place. That personal story is one I want to tell.”
Chris Jepson, photographer