The before and after images are then presented to the participants, powerful and emotionally charged interviews follow. Portraits are taken off the participants and their tattoos are digitally removed in before and after images. How we as a society judge ex-gang members with tattoos and ultimately how they judge themselves. Stay hungry.Skin Deep is a portrait series that seeks to understand the impacts tattoos have on former gang members and people trying to escape the gang life. We may be a young team in Sacramento, but we want to be the best we can be. I remain humble, because I know where I came from, but I am hungry to win. The characters in Arabic on my neck mean “humble” and “hungry.” Some of my friends ask, “Are you sure that’s what they mean?” (laughs) I’m sure. My best friends, Haz and Ahmad, are Muslim. I will keep them close to me until the day I die. I have my mom and my siblings’ names inscribed on my arm. This tattoo reminds me that you have to believe that you can never give up hope. My mom always tells me that if you believe in yourself, good things will happen. You always want to win, but most often, you get dealt a bad hand. Everyone is playing for something in life. I believe everyone in this world is born to lose. I know how proud he is of me, and he’s inspired me. During the summer, I was there almost every day. He’s been gone since I was 14 years old, I visit him in prison every chance I get. He gave his blood, sweat and tears to provide for everyone in the family. That’s my big brother he’s locked up now. My oldest brother, Keith, drew that for me. We didn’t grow up much, but we had so much love, I’m thankful for that every day. They will forever be with me, because they all have played a role in supporting me. On the right side, I have my grandparents-my great grandma, my grandma, my godmother. They mean a lot more to me than any thing ever will. All of these people are part of my journey. I go to the same places to eat, visit the same people, hang out in Wellston. I ride the Metrolink to get around just like my mom does. When I go back home, I’m the same person I was when I left. Going to Oak Hill and Kansas helped me mature as a person, but there’s no place like home. I was homesick because I was so used to being around my family. I had to go to Oak Hill Academy to finish high school. During my junior year of high school, my school in Wellston closed down. Having the support of people who love you is everything. It’s my family, friends, coaches, helping me throughout my life. The reason the world is in chaos is because things are being loved and people are being used." In life, it’s more important to care more about people than things. Family always comes first over everything else. My mom and my grandma, they always taught us to stay together. My family has been a great support system. I have an opportunity to change that for my family. When you grow up in poverty, people look at you differently. We didn’t have things, but we were always loved. We grew up in in Wellston, Missouri in St. The first tattoo I ever got was my name across my back. Sometimes, it’s easier to tell the story through my ink, but I’ll try to tell you some of these stories here. When I think about it now, I have the most tattoos out of all of them. A lot of the guys at Kansas had them-Tyshawn Taylor, Thomas Robinson, Elijah Johnson. I didn’t have any tattoos until I went to college.
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