Once a fringe phenomenon, tattooing is now a mainstream trend, and millions of people worldwide have body art. And each and every one of them has their own unique reasons and narratives as to why they chose to indelibly mark their bodies. "Permanence" is the first and only book to combine photographic portraits of people's tattoos with the stories behind them, told in the subjects' own words and handwriting.

Artist, writer, and teacher Kip Fulbeck has brought together an incredibly diverse group of tattoos and individuals. Extensively tattooed himself, Fulbeck photographed subjects young and old, of all races, religions and political persuasions, from students to rock stars, to suburban mums to Hells Angels - each person with an original story to tell. Encompassing the joyful and the tragic, the hilariously impulsive and the deeply profound, "Permanence" presents the myriad voices and faces that make up the tattooed population today."Permanence" includes interviews with celebrity tattooers Kat Von D and Oliver Peck, hardcore music pioneer Evan Seinfeld, and a few members of the general public, as well as a foreword by renowned tattooist Horitaka (a senior apprentice of Horivoshi III).