Assignment 4: The Process

Contact Sheets

For my series, the idea of showcasing different people's tattoos just kind of came to me on a whim, but that doesn't mean that I didn't have a deeper message. I find that tattoos are a creative way of self-expression, and that every tattoo has a story. That story could be: "I lost a bet", "it's an important part of my culture", "it reminds me of a family member", "I just thought it was cool," or one of the many other reasons that people have to allow an artist to put their work on their body, permanently.

I greatly appreciate the participation that my tattooed friends from this class, friends from other classes, and my roommate gave to make this project happen. Seeing all of these images now, I wish I could have included each of everybody's tattoos in my final series.

(Can you guess which tattoo is mine?)

I found this experience very intimate because I got to learn more about my friends in a unique way. I am sincerely grateful that they shared with me pieces of themselves that I hadn't known before. In turn, I tried to share these elements in a creative way that highlights the different ways my friends express their individuality. 

Early Draft

Originally, I wanted to enlarge the exposures across the entire dimensions of the paper to draw most of the viewers' focus to the tattoos. I love the way that the photos themselves turned out, but I wanted to find a way to utilize the paper in a more unique way...

(continued in more recent post)