Introducing t-fags – a photobook that centres the experiences of trans men, transmasc people and non-binary folk. The project, made by Orion Isaacs and El Hardwick, combines photography and interviews to address a glaring absence they noticed on the shelves of queer bookshops almost three years ago.

t-fags brings together images and testimonies in a collaborative exploration of trans intimacy, desire and identity, charting the many ways trans people see and want themselves. The book itself, delayed due to funds, has, as of November 2025, officially reached enough funds to be produced.

Hardwick and Isaacs are partners creatively as well as romantically. They met during lockdown. Hardwick, a multidisciplinary artist, and Isaac, a film director and writer, initially connected with the idea of working together before realising they wanted a deeper relationship.

Years later, that bond has settled into a supportive, imaginative partnership. “We cheer each other on because we truly and wholeheartedly believe in the worlds we’re building, both individually and as a team,” Isaacs said in an interview with i-d.

At the moment, the pair are pouring their energy into t-fags, a project that feels particularly urgent. The photobook examines the fluid iconography of queer, transmasc identity, drawing directly from their own experiences as queer, trans and gender-expansive people.

After noting the wealth of depictions of cis gay men in LGBTQ+ and art bookshops, and the comparative lack of trans representation, they set out to fill this cultural gap, collaborating with members of their wider community.

In an interview with Dazed, El Hardwick reflected on identity and the creation of t-fags; “Sadly, too often trans representation can be really flattened into serving a purpose for the cis gaze.

“Portraits of trans people taken by cisgender photographers are frequently included in portrait awards and exhibitions in a way that is Othering to us; as if we are only worth documenting if our scars are on show”

Producing a photobook can be a slow, painstaking and, above all, costly undertaking. Yet these books remain vital cultural objects shaping narratives, preserving voices and offering rare windows into lives too often pushed to the margins.

See more images from the book here.

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