There's a moment in the Hangover 2, when Stu does something even worse than cheat on his wife-to-be with a ladyboy: he gets a great big whopping face tattoo.
Why 'worse'?
Because there's a general school of thought that the face and hands are two areas that mark a point of no return - in terms of job and society. Even the most ardent tattoo fan may find it's a line they don't want to cross.
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Taking on this set of assumptions and judgements, photographer Mark Leaver decided to focus on people who have face tattoos and explore the stories behind them.
"Some wanted a radical transformation and facial tattoo becomes for them a kind of mask," Leaver explained to Skinked. "For others, it is just a rebellion against the system."
Joe Munroe -26 years old
Leaver's project, called "Tattoos," captures those who have taken the step, and surprisingly, the photos are delicate, beautiful and reveal a true vulnerability in his subjects.
"Historically facial tattoos have had a huge amount of taboos around them," Leaver explains in his statement.
"People associate facial tattoos with a number of negative things including suicide rates, criminality and depression. This couldn’t be further from the case now. Facial tattoos now represent creativity, aesthetics, transformation and spirituality."
Take a look at the stunning photographs:
tattoo
(H/T: HuffPost Arts And Culture)