A photographer who started taking pictures of rescue pit bulls and people with tattoos together is raising awareness of the negative stereotypes associated with both of them.
Brian Batista, a photographer based in Nashville, Tennessee, started his now booming project in Sept. 2012.
"This project is so much more than just another rescue advocacy medium, I also noticed a major parallel with rescue animals and people with tattoos facing prejudices," Batista said on his website. "One of my friends got a memorial tattoo on his neck for his 4 year old son that died. He was fired the next day for having this tattoo which was showing his love for his son with art and self expression. This is nothing short of bullying, it's not fair and needs to be stopped. Not all visibly tattooed people are in hate groups, just like not all pit bulls are vicious."
Batista's first photoshoot of 2015 will feature pit bull named Lilly, who was recently named the 2015 face of Pit Bull Advocates of the United States, with her adoptive dad Steve Lawrence.
Lilly's human parents are an interracial, inked couple. They said they felt they had to keep Lilly because they could empathize with the prejudice she received from her stereotype every day.
