I came across this Tumblr in my feed and thought this would be an appropriate venue to tell people about it. It consists of reproductions from a book by one Danzig Baldaev.
From the Tumblr’s “About” page:
Danzig Baldaev was born into a prominent Buryat family; when only a child, his father was denounced as an enemy of the people. Baldaev was placed in a children’s home with other children of enemies of the people.
As an adult he began work as a prison guard. He noticed the tattoos worn by many of the criminals had meanings – meanings lost on those who weren’t supposed to know. He was convinced by his father, who had once been a leading ethnographer, to document this secret criminal language. Baldaev spent the next 30+ years documenting the tattoos and their often complex meanings.
Related posts:
The Unspoken Language of Prison: Tattoos as Symbols of Identity, Belonging, and Status
Tattooing: A Relevant Art Form in Prisons
Mara Salvatrucha
Juvenile Justice – The LA County Arts Commission
Pain is in the Eye of the Beholder
Prison Art
Petr Pavlensky: A Dissident Artist
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I love the idea of a tattoo telling a meaningful story, while this is not very original, having tattoos that represent a criminal repertoire is fascinating.