Alican Gorgu (AKA PigmentNinja) is a Turkish tattoo artist who transforms his clients into walking photo albums. Using old family photos for guidance, the Istanbul-based artist tattoos people with whatever childhood memories they want to be 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 three months. I was a shop assistant at the first tattoo studio where I worked for three years. But I also needed to earn a living. I was either going to get a 9-5 or dedicate myself to tattoo designs and execution.
"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 tattoo ideas and started working with souvenir photos people took. It’s an indescribable feeling to tattoo the awkward family photos 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 onto the skin."
Check out some of his best family tattoo works below, and don't forget to vote for your favorite. You can also find Alican on Instagram, where he has almost 40k followers.
More info: Instagram
