This is a documentary about Russian toughest prison. I watched it to some how hear the thoughts of the people who wear those tattoos. The story and the reason behind their crimes. As those are the things that those tattoos hide. I see them as a mask. By simply looking at the tattoo you cannot see the severity of the crime nor do you know any idea if their crime was as wicked as we think. We tall them all under the same category. We assume what they are and what their story is. However, I don’t see it to be implied by nature. We as society construct the structure but the tattoos play a role in generating the social behavior thus structure it self. So it turns in to this cycle. This mask / tattoos inform the community of them. I’m not trying to understand them but I’m trying to understand the tattoos as an idea what they are seen, the concept. This is the reason why I chosen to at criminal tattoos as their aesthetical value plays no important role in what I’m trying to explore.
Anna Okroyan 