A friend asked if I would photograph his tattoos so he could have a record of them. I was quick to say yes. Having a subject like this man in front of my camera is rare, an honor, and a privilege. The day we chose was cold so we worked inside his home. At first, we had the window coverings as our background but the tattoos were too obvious, too much color surrounded by neutral. I opened his shades to reveal the wonder trees just outside. Adding them in as a background element seemed to soften the art on his body, making it (the tattoos) part of the image, and not the whole image. Moving it from a record to the recording of art. When he put on his hat, it added that other element to see and get insight into his character. We, photographers, practice taking stuff out of our frames, outlining our subjects using the flattening effect, to guide the viewer to see what we want. Sometimes putting in chaos adds just the right amount of confusion to center the eye on the subject.