“Tattoos”

”Hermann started to take photos of tattoos on people in 2015 at the beaches of Lake Balaton. She noticed that there had been a much bigger tattoo boom among people not long before that and it was not only the nonfigurative tattoos familiar from ten years before that appeared on the bodies, but these people wanted to send some kind of message. However, it was not so clear sometimes, what that message was. In 2015 she only took pictures of a few tattoos – first a dad with horror tattoos with his small child wearing sunglasses – then this year she went to the beach with a much more defined goal.
There were people who immediately started to explain the meanings of tattoos, but there were some who just showed themselves and left without a word. Sometimes they asked back what the photos were for. Hermann wanted to capture not only the tattoos and their absurd sight, but also tiny stories about the people wearing them. Moreover, the pictures did not include the faces. According to Hermann it is very interesting that everyone wants to be unique with their tattoos, but actually it is very easy to notice the trends: skulls, snakes, dragons even on the kindest people. A new trend is photorealism; there was a woman at the beach wearing on her arm the tattooed portrait of her grandparents.
By the way Ildi Hermann does not have a tattoo, but she is going to continue the project.”

Dávid Klág, Szabolcs Barakonyi (photo editor): At the beach all tattoos are unique, still they are all the same. Index, 27/8/2016.