Photographer Austin Tott pairs the small with the grandiose in his series Tiny Tattoos. The delightful images feature hand-drawn body art that’s positioned against a background from which they visually reference. In one photograph, we see a wrist that is marked with quotes in front of several stacks of books. Another dangles an abundance of vintage keys on strings with a hand reaching towards the one that’ll unlock the drawing on its arm. And in a beautiful play on scale, an inch-high tree has a backdrop of an entire forest.
Tott finds a way for every image to engage us by adding an illustrated touch. But the conceptual relationship in Tiny Tattoos is just part of the series’ charm. The photographer creates harmonious compositions when he combines the minuscule with massive, and something like an individualized bike is more engaging when its compared with a sprawling cityscape. This visual tension makes for images that are fun to view.
We’ve been enchanted by Tott’s clever photography before. His previously-featured quirky portraits have the same soft, dream-like qualities that we find in Tiny Tattoos.
