Photographer Compares Images of Former Gang Members with and Without Tattoos

Burton got the idea of the project when he watched a film about the NGO called Homeboy Industries that helps former members of street gangs to integrate into the society and get rid of their tattoos. Burton found the photographs of people with tattooed faces online, removed the tattoos in Adobe Photoshop and showed them to the heads Homeboy Industries.

Homeboy Industries agreed to help the photographer find people who will give permission to be photogrpahed and an interview about their life in the gang and why they joined it. They managed to recruit 27 people for the project: Burton took portraits and then spent about 400 hours editing them on Photoshop to make the images without tattoos look real.

After that, the photographer showed his work to some of the protagonists. He told PetaPixel that they were surprised when they saw their faces without tattoos, as they have had them for years or even decades. However, some of the people who took part in the shoot never saw their pictures: Burton could not find them, as they changed their address or contact number, joined the gang again or started using drugs.

The photographs and the interview will be made into a 172-page book. Burton is currently crowdfunding for it on Kickstarter. He has collected almost $13,000 out of the required $25,000 so far.