Culture can be understood as distinctiveness of social groups which gives them an Identity, or in other words, norms and values. The sense of self-image and group belonging define our Identity. Whilst some views on Identity establish that the media constructs people as subject of Ideology from the dominant class, others recognise people as active and in control of their culture, and therefore they see themselves as they want to be seen. Whichever approach is taken, the influence of the social environment is determinant for Identity construction.

Exploring how the relation between Culture and Representation works on the construction of one’s Identity, I elect the tattoo as an element of representation of the self, and I go on to group individuals according to this one characteristic. By grouping these individuals by the sole characteristic of having tattoos I define them as a group who shares an interest in body art, regardless of other social background or personal history, but also to propose a discussion about how we share elements of culture with others.

Using a typological approach in classifying subjects but also attempting to portray an aspect of a people’s lives as in an Ethnographic Photography practice, this series of portraits, a currently unfinished project, creates a controversial interdisciplinarity. It goes through the debate of objectiveness versus subjectiveness in photography, to raise the question about identity and allowing the viewer to compare the sitters, spotting any typical characteristics or differences.