This is a part of a series titled Self-Acceptance where I explain the process of self-portraits I have taken which started during lockdown. It explores themes of self-confidence, working with what you have, and accepting myself (duh).
So this was around the time my cousins were talking about getting family tattoos. It was also when I started to realize that my body has changed completely, and I had finally accepted myself in that aspect. It felt good, and it gave me the confidence to play with tattoo ideas through photoshop. There's no better way to say it than how I said it on IG, so here's an excerpt from the original caption:
There’s been an ongoing discussion amongst my cousins for a family tattoo. We’re not sure yet on what it would be, but it’s peaked my interest in my own tattoos. I’ve been wanting tattoos my whole life, but have yet to get them. It’s a beautiful, personal way to connect to my Filipino roots. It’s hard to say what exactly I would want, but I wouldn’t want to get something misinterpreted or misrepresented. If it were to happen, I would want to go through consultation to make sure I do have the correct patterns and meanings to not get shunned. Over the past few days, I’ve been studying what I could find to put together some pieces that have meaning and representation of my life for a modern interpretation on Filipino Tribal tattoos. So please bear with me if these patterns are incorrect, and I do not mean to offend anyone. These are not real/final, but just wanted to it see how I could look like with tattoos on my skin.
I have to say that this post was more so for the photoshop and tattoo art than the photography. As you can tell, it's done with the same lighting and styling as my Barong series. It was intentional considering the Filipino culture connection.
