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The tattoo industry creates a community and conversation that is genuinely dwindling in today’s world, and I think that’s what I admire most about it. I remember my first time inside a tattoo studio, and my first feeling was nerves. It was a massively unfamiliar environment, and I was nervous, despite the fact that I wasn’t even the one getting tattooed. Within a few minutes, my friend and I had started a conversation with her artist and my nerves dissipated. Since then, every time I’ve gone to a studio, or struck up a conversation with someone about their tattoos, I’ve found the same thing: people light up when they talk about their art. Whether it be the art they create, or the art they carry around on their skin, it brings out a certain excitement. Tattoo culture has solidified itself as a creative safe space, one that brings together such a wide array of people who all want to get inked for some reason or another. Be it a memorial tattoo, a symbol of love, a song that means a lot, or a drawing that just hits home, tattoos are an incredible form of self expression. For a lot of people, it also means freedom and having the agency to be who you want to be, outside of others expectations.