Inside a tattoo parlour where hateful images are covered for free

Tattoos are often more than just ink on skin – they’re a declaration of identity and values. But what happens when the person changes, yet the ink remains? This question is at the centre of the US director Grace Noteboom’s short documentary All These Marks. The film follows three men with white supremacist tattoos who are undergoing the painful process of having them covered at the Bearded Lady tattoo parlour in Springfield, Missouri, where the tattoo artist Justin Fleetwood conceals hateful imagery for free. While each story is different – one man’s tattoo was a foolish teenage decision, another calls it his ‘prison camouflage’ – they centre on the common theme of social pressure. Allowing these men to be honest without judgment, and providing room for redemption without excusing their past actions, Noteboom’s film makes a powerful argument that nothing is permanent – least of all hate.