Sylvia Stagg-Giuliano

Blood and Ink Two: Subdermal

Some years ago, shortly after photographing a model whose arms and legs were covered with intricate, colorful, beautifully rendered tattoos, I attended a lecture on the history of tattooing and discovered that cultures all over the world have practiced this art for thousands of years.

I learned that people get all sorts of tattoos for all sorts of reasons. A common theme is the desire to make some essential part of their personality, thoughts, dreams, obsessions, or personal history visible to the world.

Intrigued, I began to photograph people with tattoos in casual settings, using available light. These images formed a photo collection entitled Blood and Ink.

My subjects, for the most part, projected good-natured, relaxed self-confidence.

For Blood and Ink Two: Subdermal, I took a more formal approach, photographing in my studio or, in one case, a tattoo studio, in sessions lasting an hour or more.

During these sessions, my subjects revealed, in intensely personal terms, what each image or inscription means to them. Photographing in controlled environments and employing traditional portrait techniques enabled me to use backgrounds and lighting to visually echo the graphic quality, intense colors, and, hopefully, the emotional impact of art inscribed in flesh.