Artist Turns Your Most Nostalgic Childhood Pics Into Stylish Tattoos So You Always Have Them On Your Skin

Alican Gorgu (AKA PigmentNinja) is a Turkish tattooist who transforms his clients into walking photo albums. Using old photographs for guidance, the Istanbul-based artist tattoos people with whatever chilhood memories they want immortalized on their bodies using his own distinct style, which he refers to as “Retro Minimal”.

“I majored in photography at college,” he wrote on Bored Panda. “I could only stand the profession my diploma enabled me to do for 3 months. I was a shop assistant at the first tattoo studio where I worked for 3 years. But I also needed to earn a living. I was either going to get a 9-5 or dedicate myself to tattooing.”

“I made a connection between my college degree and what I wanted to do. I drew the poster shots of a lot of movies I liked – which got a lot of traction – and managed to transfer them onto people’s skins. I improved on my original idea and started working with souvenir photos people took. It’s an indescribable feeling to tattoo photographs taken in different parts of the world at different times. For example, I have tattooed a family portrait taken in Mexico in the ‘60s as well as one of a family in the US in the ‘80s. I work with small spaces and minimize details, keeping the essentials, to transfer these memories on to the skin.”

More info: Instagram (h/t: boredpanda)