Tattoos as Expansion of Self

I see tattoos as stories written on skin. People chose tattoos that reflect their identity, their loves, their memories, and their aspirations. Often their personal symbols are the other animate beings who inhabit our world: birds, snakes, trees. Some seek out symbols of the power of nature: storms, waves and animals with attributes of power: tigers, eagles, vultures. When I photograph, I focus on the tattoos with a large format camera. I enlarge my 4 X 5" negatives in my wet darkroom. Like the way the tattooer's ink settles into human skin, I find that palladium soaking into the translucent gampi paper translates best the quality of tattoos.