Homemade Undercuts by Ellen Blair

Homemade Undercuts is a candid, tender and intimate body of photographic work from Ellen Blair, celebrating hair as a canvas for queer expression and a symbol of kinship and queer care. A tribute to the enduring spirit of queer kinship, the zine includes work by local Irish poets and writers: Suzanne Magee, Heather Fleming, Mícheál McCann, Benjamin Lindsay, Eva Isherwood-Wallace, Fern Fitzpatrick & Alice Linehan

Walk into any queer venue, you'll likely notice that half the room sports shaved undercuts, where the other half flaunt vibrant, multi-coloured hair. But why is this? Hair is arguably the most accessible way to experiment with how to present ourselves to the world. This book uses this motif to investigate the search for an identity that feels right. 

For generations styles, cuts, shaves, tints and experiments have been a vital part of how queer people have formed and subverted cultural, political and gender identities, in celebration and defiance, revealing our queer selves to each other and to the wider world.

Especially for those who don't align with the gender binary (at a time when gender-affirming healthcare can involve waiting times of up to four years), a haircut can take on an even deeper significance while waiting for that crucial appointment. In addition, traditional hairdressers and barbers can feel unwelcoming. So cuts and styles done at home, in friends’ homes, or in caring community-led spaces are commonplace and become a joyful, revolutionary act of solidarity.