We have no doubt that our regular readers won't be surprised at all by any body transformations, be it tattoos, piercings or something else. But let's be honest, not everyone, even in 2022, can accept people who are not like them.
This happened once to Kevin Russo, a photographer from Pennsylvania, USA, who found the courage to admit that he was a man who was prejudiced against women with tattoos, considering them vulgar and brash.
In addition, he not only admitted that his judgements were wrong, but also created a large-scale photography project «Tattooed Moms», which aims to change society's attitude towards tattooed mothers.
«I grew up in an era (1970's) when tattooed women were considered to be vulgar and brash.» - said Kevin
Recalling the already distant 2010, Kevin said that at that time he took his children to gymnastics training and there he encountered several heavily tattooed women who also brought their children to classes. Then, his immediate reaction was to to separate hisself and his children from them.
«As the weeks went on and I got to know them, I realized they were educated, articulate, and, most important, loving mothers who cared for their children. It was then that I realized that the biases I had formed were wrong and that I could perhaps break the stigma attached to these mothers by capturing the love and bond of these mothers and their children through my photographs», - said Kevin
In 2011, he photographed five tattooed mothers. One of the mothers posted the photos on an online forum, and the next day Kevin woke up to hundreds of emails, from around the world, from tattooed mothers wanting to be photographed for the project. But at the time, he said, he didn’t have the means or bandwidth to take on the project at that scale.
In 2019, Kevin met, Stacie Dale, his future partner, and told her about the project. She thought it was worth pursuing so, together in 2021, they embarked on a year-long project with the intent of interviewing and photographing one-hundred tattooed mothers.
«To date, we have photographed seventy tattooed moms and anticipate completing the project with one-hundred photographs and interviews by the end of January, 2023», - said Kevin.
The authors of the project «Tattooed Moms» also planned several photo exhibitions in Pennsylvania. You can find the details on official website of the project.
«Many of the mothers we have photographed have also stated that they think a book highlighting them as mothers would be well-received and help to break the stigma that is, many times, unfairly attached to them», - said Kevin.
As Kevin told us, they continue to search for models for their project, which will last until the end of 2022. They are looking for mothers of all races and religions with tattoos on their arms, backs, legs or stomachs. All participating moms will receive 5 free high resolution digital photos. To take part, it is enough to fill out a questionnaire and a form on the official website of the project.
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