In the last part, I rambled a bit about my thoughts on how society treats photography nowadays, but I want to switch gears to the little project I gave myself for 2021. To recap, in late 2020 I downloaded a HUJI camera app on my phone and have been taking pictures of things that make me happy or that I don’t want to forget since. I decided that starting with January 2021, I’d make a faux old-fashioned yearbook for just myself.

Tattoos: poking ink into the dermal layer of your skin into aesthetically pleasing designs in hopes they stay there long-term. Such a strange concept as they do not directly affect our survival, yet still are found as an art form all around the world, past, present, and probably future. Their significance can be as simple as “I like this drawing and want it on me” to having deep religious and cultural meaning. In some places, such as Japan, they have negative connotations, such as tying you to gangs and other nefarious activity. In others, it demonstrates your rank in society, such as in some Polynesian cultures. For myself, personally, I find them a form of self-expression and art. It is not that I simply love every tattoo; I’ve seen some quite hideous ones or even ones in places that lead me to believe one’s life choices may be a bit skewed. Overall, though, I appreciate them and have wanted to both adorn myself with them and do the same for others. I still remember being in the limo on the way to prom and looking up with my friend what it takes to become a tattoo artist, a job I secretly still wish to have. Later, in university, I told myself that if I got into medical school, I’d get a tattoo as a form of celebration. What I’m trying to say is that this is something I’ve considered for a long time, and now that I will be starting graduate school, I decided I’ll actually go through with it.