Portraits of Rescued Dogs and the Tattooed Owners Who Saved Them
Since 2012, photographer Brian Batista has been shooting an ongoing project titled Tattoos & Rescues. It’s a series of portraits that seeks to combat the negative stereotypes surrounding both rescue dogs and tattooed people. The photos are meant to show that looks can be deceiving, and you should get to know both dogs and people before judging them based on outward appearances.
The photographer also had a friend who was fired from his job after getting a memorial tattoo on his neck for his 4-year-old son who had passed away.
“Not all visibly tattooed people are in hate groups, just like not all pit bulls are vicious,” Batista says. “Support your local animal rescue and advocacy groups before judging the animals. Ask a person why they have the tattoo they do before you judge them.”
Batista decided to try and combat both stereotypes in one photo project by shooting portraits of rescue dogs and their tattooed owners. Here are the shots in the project so far:
You can follow along with the project over on its website.
Image credits: Photographs by Brian Batista and used with permission
