Embedded Memories of War

Soldiers home from the Iraq war are memorializing their slain buddies with tattoos, sometimes covering an entire torso. The images serve to honor and remember the dead, but also mark the bearers’ trauma and loss. Occidental College Assistant Professor of Art Mary Beth Heffernan took her camera to the tattoo parlors near the largest Marine base in the United States to document this trend. The result is a riveting photographic exhibition entitled "The Soldier's Skin: An Endless Edition."