Five Archetypes, One Body: A Story Beneath the Skin
The Stories I Told, The Reality I Faced
Who are you when no one is watching? Strip away the labels, the roles, the expectations - what’s left?
That’s the question I didn’t realize Uncovered was asking me. And the deeper I went, the harder it became to ignore the answers. When I first imagined Uncovered, I didn’t know it would take me this deep - past the surface, past the body, into something raw and unfiltered. I thought I was simply documenting transformation. But as the project unfolded, I realized it was never just about how I changed. It was about why. The characters I created weren’t just personas; they were reflections, fragments of myself waiting to be understood. They became vehicles for confrontation, forcing me to ask the questions I had spent years avoiding: Do I shape my identity, or does the world shape it for me? What does it mean to feel at home in my own skin? How much of myself have I edited to fit in? Uncovered isn’t just about photography. It’s about becoming…
Wrangler was the first version of me that stepped forward when I began shaping my body…
…the armor I built to protect myself, to prove my worth, to silence the insecurities that had followed me since childhood. I had spent years feeling small, weak, unseen. I wanted strength not just to feel powerful, but to never feel powerless again. Every rep, every flex, every perfectly lit gym selfie was a silent scream: Look, I am in control. But control is just another kind of prison.I chased validation through transformation, convinced that building muscle would erase every rejection, every moment of invisibility. I believed that if I looked strong enough, no one could hurt me again. But what I learned was this - you can build the perfect body and still feel empty inside. I thought I had won the war. But the truth? The real battle had just begun.
Journeyman was built for movement and exploration…
I spent years chasing pleasure, mastering seduction, perfecting the art of being desired… I believed that if I could pull men in, if I could play the game better than anyone else, then maybe I’d never feel the emptiness creeping inside me. Sex wasn’t just about connection. It was power. It was escape. It was a way to fill the silence. But the thing about chasing something endlessly is that you never stop long enough to ask yourself why. What I was really afraid of wasn’t being unwanted. It was being seen. The Journeyman wasn’t just about indulgence - he was about avoiding the vulnerability of true intimacy. Because when the high of desire fades, when the night ends and the room goes quiet, you’re left with yourself. And the hardest part of the journey? Learning that sex was never the answer. It was just the distraction.
Mercenary was chasing oblivion…
At first, drugs weren’t the goal - they were just a detour. But what started as a way to escape the noise in my head quickly became the only road I knew. I told myself I was in control, that I could balance the highs, that I wasn’t like the others. I was lying. Every hit, every line, every moment of synthetic euphoria took something from me. Until one day, I looked in the mirror and didn’t recognize the man staring back. Addiction is a war. But the enemy isn’t the drug - it’s yourself. And I was losing. The Mercenary showed me what happens when escape becomes survival. But real survival isn’t about numbing the pain. It’s about facing it.
Woodsman emerged in the space between wanting to die and choosing to stay…
He was the one who taught me how to exist when everything else was stripped away. I thought if I could run far enough, isolate myself deep enough, I could escape the chaos inside me. In Sri Lanka, I found stillness for the first time. But stillness isn’t always peaceful. Sometimes, it’s where everything you’ve buried finally catches up with you. Through him, I learned that solitude wasn’t just about isolation - it was about survival. And the hardest truth of all? Even in nature, even in solitude, the darkness never really leaves you. You have to learn to live with it.
And then there was the Seafarer. He wasn’t about chasing. He wasn’t about fighting. He wasn’t about proving anything. He was about surrender...
I spent years trying to anchor myself - chasing an ideal, carrying weight that was never mine to hold, shaping myself into something I thought was worthy. But the ocean doesn’t resist itself, does it? It moves. It shifts. It expands. Real freedom isn’t about control - it’s about trust. The Seafarer didn’t teach me how to fight the tide. He taught me how to let it carry me. For so long, I gripped tightly to control, mistaking rigidity for strength, perfection for worth. But the ocean doesn’t seek perfection. It just is. And the moment I stopped resisting, I finally understood - freedom isn’t something you chase. It’s something you allow. After years of sailing through expectations, I let go - of control, of perfection, of who I thought I had to be. And for the first time, I wasn’t lost. I was free.
Looking back, I don’t just see a collection of photographs. I see a path.
A journey through identity, resistance, rebirth. Each image is a marker of change, a reminder that the body and soul are never separate - they are one. I hope that as you turn these pages, you see reflections of yourself. That these images remind you of your own capacity to transform. To view your body not as a battlefield, but as a canvas - a space where strength and vulnerability don’t just coexist, but feed each other.
Because the greatest transformation isn’t the one we see in the mirror. It’s in the way we finally choose to see ourselves, as we truly are.
P.S. New here - or simply curious? If this speaks to you (or even if you’re just intrigued by the images), use code WELCOME for 20% off Uncovered Part II. Body. Valid through July 20. Every order directly supports me, keeps me creating - and means more than you know.
An exclusive anthology, available as a limited edition of 1111 numbered copies, each signed by Alexander Abramov.
The book features a debossed hardcover with distinctive black foiled edges and comes housed in a slipcase enhanced by matching debossing and matte lamination. Each copy includes five ribbon bookmarks in vibrant rainbow colors, symbolizing pride, diversity, and honoring LGBTQ+ visibility and self-expression.
Book size 24x30 in. | 60.96x76.2 cm., total weight 6.13 lbs. | 2.8 kg., 400 pages.
Book includes 10 fold-outs pages with size 47x30 in. | 119.3x76.2 cm.