I grew up in the UK – Halifax in Yorkshire. I think it started when I was a kid. My dad was always teaching me about how to use a camera – he had a darkroom in my grandad’s pantry. I started taking pictures when I was a teen but I didn’t really become obsessed with it until I was 19.

It’s been there since I started shooting. I first just photographed the people I was sleeping with, so I think it’s always been authentic and just of what’s around me.

Most of the people I shoot are friends or friends of friends. Anyway, what is conventional? That means something to one person and another thing to someone else.

David Hoyle – I am a huge fan of his work, so shooting him was a fucking dream. The whole time I was shaking with excitement. David Hoyle was queer before it was even cool, his queer is punk, not this commercialised queer we see today.

A little. I’m probably less patient with myself than other people… I like it though – from photographing myself, I’ve begun to understand myself and embrace that performance element of my self.

I don’t remember ever photographing couples. I think this is an outdated way of seeing queerness, I don’t think it’s controversial to me or most artists. I think we need to move past these negative stereotypes, at least in the West. If someone holds homophobic beliefs and finds queerness controversial, then they should educate themselves and wake up to the world around them.

Queer is defining yourself rather than letting the system world decide for you. If you want to be a masculine you one day and a feminine you another day, it’s that. It’s somewhat political, however, the system has taken the word and used it for a gain – basically it is not Queer Eye.

No, people were generally quite open. Once I’d done a few people, others were quite eager to be involved.

I just think a body is a body. We need all bodies represented, and many people around me are working to change that.

The project is mine and my partner’s, Nora Nord. I’d broken my leg, so we started taking self-portraits together to pass the time. It evolved into a larger project that showed our domestic life together. We wanted to dismantle the (male cis) voyeurism we experienced and show our relationship on our terms.

No, not at all. You’d think so but no. The straight, cis community still just sees things like RuPaul’s Drag Race and Queer Eye and think that’s the LGBT+ community. It’s honestly so stale. I think changes-wise, we need less decayed stereotypes. We need more representation for the trans community because trans people, especially the Black trans community are dying and being attacked at an alarming rate. But also in many countries, rights have never been granted or have been reversed. And while that LGBTQ+ community isn’t free in their places, none of us are.

Reach out to someone.