Anxiety Explosion: Tattooed Photography By Claudia Cosentino

After suffering with anxiety for years, photographer and tattoo-lover Claudia Cosentino decided to channel her energy into creating beautiful self-portraits, including those of people with tattoos.

I interviewed Claudia Cosentino about her tattoo photography, and was keen to hear about where it all began...

"I started taking photos whilst at University. I was writing a thesis (about traditional tattoos!) and I was stuck at home all the time because of my studies, but also because I was suffering of severe anxiety and panic attacks."

"One day I took a photo of myself and I was surprised because it looked nice!"

"I started to take more photos and play around with Photoshop, creating images of me that I actually liked more than myself."

"I started to upload them online and self-portraits became my obsession. With time I improved, and my photos became more honest about who I was and what I was feeling."

"It took me quite some time to use my camera to portray other people and I will be always thankful towards my friends that let me experiment on them."

"I was craving photographing tattooed people because I love tattooed bodies."

"I am quite heavily tattooed myself and all my tattoos tell a story of who I am... there is no need to talk."

"I think that there must be an affinity between individuals with the same passion and this helps us to work better together."

"The first tattooed person I have ever portrayed is the model Gogo Blackwater and now she is one of my closest friends. I have had the opportunity to use my camera to photo such lovely girls... I have met great people that have changed my life for the better."

Visit Claudia's website and she also shares new images regularly on her Facebook page.