My Inspiration
I was raised by my mother and father. Both of which had tattoos, my mother had only one that most people didn't even know about, but my father is completely covered with both tattoos and piercings. At the present count I believe he has 13 tattoos and 10 piercings.
Personal InvolvementSince I was a little girl, around the age of two I've wanted tattoos. I thought they were fun and interesting and a great way to express yourself in a personal way. Granted at the time I didn't fully understand that they were permanent and in some cases painful I still took an interest in tattooing, and later in life piercings as well.
As I got older I started talking to my parents about what I would get, where I'd get it, and why. Eventually we came to the agreement that I could get a tattoo on my 16th birthday as long as I was doing well in school, the tattoo was in a space where I could cover or show it depending on the situation, and that I went to my dad's artist. All that being said, I didn't face the huge parental blowback most teenagers do when they talk about augmenting their bodies. The PointEven though my parents were on board with my tattoo ideas, some of my other, older family members were'nt. So I started to think about what they told me. About what it was like for them to have tattoos, how they had to cover them all the time, how they were judged and how overall they didn't have the luxury of being able to creatively express themselves using their bodies without being almost socially black listed.
So throughout this project I've asked many people many questions about their abilities to get jobs, being judged or discriminated against, personal stories and struggles, just asking them to share their sides of things, in hope of showing that as time has gone on society has grown to be more accepting of people's creativity and how they express themselves through body art. |