Portrait Awards 2015

I have always loved the natural world--animals, plants, rivers, rocks, ocean--the very texture of earth. When I started my project of photographing people with tattoos, I saw that they have images, stories and symbols that are connected, not only to their experiences, but to nature. Using the analog processes of film, the metal palladium and the plant based Japanese gampi paper, I combine these portraits with flora and fauna to embody this relationship.