Photographer Roberto Scordino is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this documentary photography. From the project ‘Punk Cinderella’. To see Roberto’s body of work, click on any photograph.
Archaeological discoveries have shown that the use of painting the body and trying to embellish it preceded the oldest known forms of wall painting of thousands of years making the body itself the first “canvas” of primitive man. Although we know little of the original motivations of these practices, they have been handed down from generation to generation up to the present day, transforming, changing and evolving in the different cultures. For thousands of years, men and women all over the world submitted themselves to more or less profound changes in their bodies in order to feel more attractive, to receive attention, to conform to the prevailing culture of their society or, more modernly, to differ from it. The reasons for all these changes vary from religious ones to those of search for sexual partners, from the desire to show a social status or well-being to the need to feel unique as an individual with respect to the masses. So, while some changes are well accepted or even required by our own society other transform those who make them into freaks and outcasts by asking questions about who decides what can be done about their bodies and what not because this changes from culture to culture, from moment to moment in history by linking to the theme of freedom of the individual. The motivations behind the bodily modifications are therefore the most varied, however, any person who modifies his body, consciously or unconsciously, modifies his relationship with himself and the world around him, the purpose of this work is to explore these changes. This chapter of research, in particular, focuses on a group of young people from Mexico City who live together in a common home and are part of the large group of punk and modifications culture in Mexico.
Punk Cinderella
Manzana started tattooing her body when she was 18 because her father denied her to have a tattoo, so she left home, got her first tattoo and never stopped doing that. Soon later she started tattoo other people. She worked for long time in tattoo studios but every time, being a female, was forced to do cleaning. She so decides to start working in her home where she lives with her lover and other modified artist guys. All of them work in body modifications, all of them are heavily modified and are happy being so.
“Friend, why did you decide to lose your identity?”
Manzana:
“I didn’t lose it, I just decorated it!”
Roberto Scordino is an eclectic and multifaceted artist originally from Rome. He began his career working in IT companies and later devoted himself to graphics and multimedia works as a freelancer. He has developed many cultural and popular interactive multimedia applications and has created video games for mobile phones and the Internet. As a VJ under the pseudonym Psychopixel, he has projected videos during many trance and techno evenings in Italy and abroad. For years he has been interested in socio-anthropological research in the world of subcultures. In the last years he studied photography with award-winning photographers like Paolo Marchetti and Dario De Dominicis, he graduated in the Masterclass held by Fausto Podavini, Rosy Santella and Giovanni Cocco. He has dedicated himself to reportage photography, obtaining numerous awards in international competitions. Currently, he is also exploring the artistic possibilities of Artificial Intelligence by producing images and animations.
All images and text © Roberto Scordino
See also:
By Roberto Scordino
Edge of Humanity Magazine’s
FREE Projects & Other Services
To Promote Works From Artists,
Photographers, Poets & Writers
PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK, SHORT STORIES & MUSIC Recommendations
FREE Platform For Artists NO MIDDLEMAN ART GALLERY
Open Submissions for Writers & Poets
Edge of Humanity Magazine is an independent nondiscriminatory platform that has no religious, political, financial, or social affiliations.
We are committed to publishing the human condition, the raw diverse global entanglement, with total impartiality.
Also From Edge of Humanity Magazine
By Edge of Humanity Magazine
Poetry BLOG By Edge of Humanity Magazine
CONTRACT FREE
online platform for artists to sell their creations
Support This Small Independent Magazine
Please
Follow Edge of Humanity Magazine
Email Subscriptions
WordPress Bloggers
Follow Edge of Humanity Magazine on WordPress.com
Not on WordPress?
Don’t Forget to add
to your reader or bookmarks
Thank you!
Nice essay in text and images. Study needed for me “the phrase that painting one’s body preceeded painting walls in ancient history.”
regards, Drager Meurtant