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Tattoo Artist Uses People's Old Photos To Make Permanent Keepsakes

Updated September 1, 2021

What if you could find a tattoo artist who could turn your favorite old family photo into a cool tattoo? Would you get it inked on your skin?

Well, now you're in luck. A talented tattoo artist does just that for people and the tattoo renditions he comes up with are even more interesting than the original photo. Get a load of these awesome designs.

Alican Gorgu aka PigmentNinja is a Turkish tattoo artist on a mission.

He transforms people's old family keepsake photos into awesome tattoos. Gorgu even came up with his own signature tattoo style which he calls "Retro Minimal" and you can see exactly why he calls it that.

As you can see, the tattoos don't look exactly like the photos.

Instead, they're more of a cartoonish version. Gorgu likes to focus on the essentials of the tattoo while keeping the details minimized. I think that's such an unusual idea.

Gorgu actually majored in photography at college.

But he didn't work at his then-profession for too long before giving it up. He then got a job at a tattoo shop as an assistant and had to make a decision.

It was either get a 9-5 job or get serious at something else.

So he decided to learn how to tattoo. Once he perfected the art of tattooing he wanted to make a connection between his photography studies and the art of tattoos — and so he did.

He first started to draw poster shots from movies he liked and this gained him some traction.

So he then managed to successfully transfer them onto people’s skin. Eventually, he started working with old family photos people kept as souvenirs.

It must be so fun to ink awkward family photos and situations onto somebody's skin, ha, ha.

I can think of a few photos I would love to have turned into a cool tattoo. Hmm, if only Turkey wasn't so far I would go to see him in a heartbeat.

I bet we all have lots of old photos that would make for a fun tattoo.

Imagine the curious looks you would get from people wanting to know the story behind your unique tattoo. That's a story all in itself.

I love how these tattoos are simple line tattoos with some clever shading.

Gorgu is able to convey the sweet or sometimes silly message from the original photo someone has given him as a reference. Case in point here, isn't this so great?

You can even memorialize a special occasion with a tattoo like this one.

Aww, that is so fun. I love how he keeps most of the tattoo black and white and then he adds a pop of color where appropriate.

Or you can get a tender moment like this one permanently inked on your skin.

This is such a great photo, to begin with, but now this mom has it on her arm forever. Isn't that the sweetest thing or what?

I know I've written about matching tattoos before and this is such a great idea.

These siblings got the same photo tattooed on their skin and now they can show it off proudly together. I absolutely love this cool idea here.

It must be so fun for Gorgu to see each and every photo somebody has chosen to ink on their skin.

Every one of them has a unique story to tell. What's the story with this one for example? Who are these folks ha, ha?

I would love to see the look on people's faces when they see the final tattoo.

I bet this must be quite a trip for them, huh? They've been starring at this photo for so long and now they have a tattoo of it on their skin.

So what do you think of this idea for a tattoo?

Does it appeal to you? Do you have an old photo you would like to have tattooed on you? As I said, I can think of at least a few.

h/t Bored Panda

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