Marks of Distinction.

No longer considered part of the counterculture, tattooists are now called tattoo artists, their craft made safer and more accessible since the invention of the electric tattoo machine in 1938. In this work, the tattoo's design shares characteristics of a ukiyo-e wookblock print, thus raising the tattoo itself to the level of fine art. Photographer Lars Krutak (1971-), also known as the world's foremost tattoo anthropologist, explained the age-old allure of tattoos this way, "Our tattoos belong to us and no one else. [Extracted from the article]