Photographer Mark Leaver has a series called ‘Tattoos’ in which he captures intimate, up-close portraits of people with tattooed faces.
Personal and candid, they depict his subjects in moments of vulnerability that contrast with their overwhelmingly inked bodies.
Through his photographs, Leaver hopes to showcase their beauty, strength, and erase stigmas about heavily tattooed people.
“Too often people have negative opinion about people with facial tattoos. It’s often related to depression, unemployment, or criminality. I knew a few people with facial tattoos before I started the project so I knew that was all dated BS. It may be true for some, but I’ve photographed around 30 people in the UK with the most iconic and notable facial tattoos, and these people are the most down to earth individuals you’ll ever meet,” he said in a recent interview for tattoo website Skinked.
Check out Leaver’s photographs below.
[via Konbini, images via Mark Leaver]