Does it hurt as much as it looks? Are people just being proud when they say it doesn't?
New York photographer Anne Burlock Lawver doesn't have any tattoos, but became fascinated by the process of people getting them.
In
2013 she decided to embed herself in a tiny tattoo parlor in Washington
Heights called Gunmetal Tattoos, which has since closed, and with the
permission of her subjects started snapping pictures of them having ink
done.
'The
beauty I saw and tried to convey through my work was both the physical
beauty and emotional beauty of the individuals during their private
experience,' Lawver told the website Slate.
'No other situation that I’ve photographed has given me such an experience, such a thrill.
'I
returned to the shop again and again anticipating my work taking me
into ''the groove'', that deep level of concentration and involvement in
the moment when nothing outside one’s attention exists.'
The result is a beautiful but harrowing collection of photographs that Lawver appropriately titled 'Indelible'.
Ouch: New York photographer Anne
Burlock Lawver endeavored to capture the experience of getting a tattoo,
embedding herself inside the Washington Heights tattoo parlor Gunmetal
Tattoos, which has since closed
Grisly: Lawver's images capture the
pain that people volunteer for when they choose to get a tattoo and the
art involved in getting one
'Such a thrill': Lawver said the
experience inside Gunmetal Tattoos, in upper Manhattan, was unlike
another project she had done
Finished product: The tattoo artist is seen wrapping the elaborate ink in cling wrap after finishing off the symbolic design
New York photographer Anne Burlock
Lawver doesn't have any tattoos, but became fascinated by the process of
people getting them, so set out to capture those experiences as part of
a photo project
With permission, Lawver embedded
herself with the Washington Heights parlor Gunmetal Tattoos and started
photographing the customers getting their ink
A young man is seen here getting words and symbols tattooed on his chest at the parlor in New York City
Elaborate: A woman lies back as she
gets a tattoo around her belly button on her stomach, one of the more
painful places to have ink
Lawver said she experimented with
light when taking the photos because of the parlor's dimness, changing
the exposure of her frames
Intricate: Almost all of the people who were photographed were getting tattoos on their torsos or arms, like this man
Stone-faced: This man seems nonplussed as he gets a sleeve of tattoos inked on his left arm at Gunmetal Tattoos
The photographer endeavored to find out what it's like to have ink done, because she doesn't have a tattoo herself
Lawver's images capture the pain that people volunteer for when they choose to get a tattoo and the art involved in getting one
