According to a 2006 PEW Research Center report, almost 4 in 10 between the ages of 18 and 40 are tattooed. Tattoos may be becoming the norm but before their surge in popularity, tattoos were the province of society’s outcasts: sailors, artists, carnies and outlaws – acting as roadmaps of their lives: who they were, what they had done, their loves, desires, their sorrows and pains. The social acceptability of tattoos may have changed but inmates are still outcasts without a shred of status in mainstream society. In prisons and jails around the world, prisoner tattoos are visual narratives. The stories they tell can be personal, they can be political and they can be warning signs. A person’s tattoos can speak to what they have done in the past, what groups he has belonged to, what “work” he/she has put in, as well as time served, what he/she does on the outside and whether or not they have killed. Tattoos can also mourn the loss of a loved one or the joy of a child’s birth. They can be a celebration of the wearer’s heritage and pride. [Written by Robert Gumpert]
Images: © Robert Gumpert
