Long an outsider art form, tattoos have become a powerful form of creative expression used to help individuals stake claim over their bodies – an act perhaps nowhere more meaningful than in the fashion industry.
In his new exhibition, Skin Deep, photographer Danny Baldwin documents a seismic mood change within the fashion industry that has seen agencies shift from representing only models with no tattoos, or those that are easily hidden, to building entire campaigns around elaborately inked individuals.
Hey Danny! Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I graduated from LCF a couple of years ago and have since been working as a freelance photographer within the fashion and editorial industry and am currently working on my first solo exhibition.
What inspired Skin Deep?
Encouraging acceptance and celebrating individuality, freedom of expression and creativity, Skin Deep features over 100 black and white nude images of professional tattooed male models shot against a stark black, signature background. Created over the course of a year, it brings together a variety of male models, some just starting out in their career, others working for designers such as Versace and Vivienne Westwood, from across a range of different ages, backgrounds and ethnicities, all with one thing in common – their inked skin.
Over the past few years I started to notice a marked change in the models who worked in front of my camera. In just a short space of time they changed from being fresh faced and clean cut blank canvases, to the sort of models usually referred to as alternative – individuals with an edge of defiance, whose tattoos represent the ownership they have over their bodies.
With Skin Deep I want to show a wider audience something that is visually stimulating and celebrates how these people are breaking the mould of what others think by being true to themselves in an elite industry and expressing who they are through the medium of tattooing. With just a lens between them and me, and stripped of the character that a designer’s clothing demands, each tattoo is specific, personal and unique to the bearer, chosen by the model to say something special about themselves.
I will showcase a limited selection of images of the exhibition on social media ahead of its opening. I’ll also use social media platforms to introduce the models to a digital audience in a collection of separate images taken especially for the project. I wanted to break tradition with the usual portrait formats that you see in exhibitions, and recreate something that pays tribute to the digital media platforms that have pushed my work into the public domain.
The resulting images are as much about resistance as exposure, the model determines how much, or little, of themselves they give over to the camera. They explore how tattoos can give a true insight into a person’s inner self, or can be used as armour to protect the bearer from those who can’t get past judging what’s on the surface.
How long have you been working on this project?
I have been working on it for over a year, and after successfully funding the project on Kickstarter I’m now looking for a location so we can share the work in an exhibition in the New Year.
We heard the calendar is in support of a charity, can you tell us more?
A donation will be made to the British Skin Foundation from each calendar. I wanted to give something back to a good cause, as without the public we would not of been able to fund the project. As the project features heavily on skin I felt the British skin foundation was a great cause as they are the UK’s only charity dedicated to skin research. There are eight million people living with a skin disease in the UK – some are manageable, others are severe enough to kill. The charity is there to support this cause.
What can we expect from the calendar?
We have featured 12 black and white nude male models from the project and you can view the calendar on our website where it is available for purchase in two sizes from www.skindeeplondon.com.
