Fourth-year English student Syd Sandford is one of many in her generation that uses tattoos as a form of self expression. She carries on her skin a permanent collection of ink that ties her to family, friends and herself, that not only connect Sandford to her key life values, but help her love the woman she sees in the mirror each day. "I have beautiful pieces of art on me and I'm a carrier of those things, which just makes me inherently beautiful," Sandford said. "I may not really love how I look or my face or my hair, but like, I have these really cool pieces of art on me, and like, that’s just objectively cool." For Sandford, beauty is pain at the hands of an artist and tattoo gun, and a pain that is worth the stigma that comes with it.
PHOTOS: Tattoos connect new generation to key values, body positivity
Fourth-year English student Syd Sandford is one of many in her generation that uses tattoos as a form of self expression. She carries on her skin a permanent collection of ink that ties her to family, friends and herself, that not only connect Sandford to her key life values, but help her love the woman she sees in the mirror each day. "I have beautiful pieces of art on me and I'm a carrier of those things, which just makes me inherently beautiful," Sandford said. "I may not really love how I look or my face or my hair, but like, I have these really cool pieces of art on me, and like, that’s just objectively cool." For Sandford, beauty is pain at the hands of an artist and tattoo gun, and a pain that is worth the stigma that comes with it.