Joyful Portraits of Queer Elders

This article originally appeared on VICE Germany.

Photographer Zejna Halilbašič doesn’t like the idea of getting old. Until recently, she imagined it like this: “You go to bed at 7PM every day, you sit around at home and watch TV,” she says. “If you’ve decided against the ‘marriage, house and a dog’ life, you become invisible to society.”

Then she met Mahide Lein, Joaquin La Habana Reyes, Marcel Kündl and Geerd Bittner – four queer ageing people who refuse to give up their identity and lifestyle just because they’re getting older. Instead, they live their lives fully and joyfully, staying true to themselves whatever their age. In her photo series, Halilbašič portrays these colourful characters in everyday situations in their homes.

Lein, 73, used to run a club. Now in her signature soft mohawk and a black jumpsuit, she looks more like a superhero than an old lady on her way to a tea party.

Cuban-born La Habana Reyes, 70, is a dancer. In the 90s, he made a living in New York as a gender-fluid performer – he looked like a woman on half of his face, and a man on the other.

The photos portraying Kündl, 56, and Bittner, 72, focus on their hobby of puppy play – AKA role-playing as dog and master. They live together in the west of Berlin in a tiny house with a huge garden. Their place is only 24 square metres, but it’s big enough for the two of them. The couple likes to share their garden with other puppy play enthusiasts by hosting puppy play parties. 

Meeting these people changed something for Halilbašič. “I find it beautiful and reassuring that there are many facets of growing older,” she says. “Not all elderly people wear beige: Being old can be colourful, just like my photos. These pictures are taking away my fear of ageing – now I know you can be old and hopeful.”

Scroll down to see the pictures: