About this series

"Inked in Steel" is a visceral and immersive photo series that delves deep into the gritty world of cybernetic prosthetics. The series follows a cyborg as he embarks on a journey to see a cybernetic prosthetic clinic to replace his outdated enhancements with the latest and greatest upgrades. The photos capture the intensity of the procedure, showcasing the intricate details of the ripperdoc's work as she manipulates wires and metal to create a gradual integration between man and machine. These photos explore similarities between tattoo culture and surgically augmenting cybernetics. Both involve modifying the body to suit one's desires, often to the point of altering one's identity. In both cases, there is a sense of permanence and understanding that these modifications cannot be easily undone. Ultimately, cybernetic prosthetics and tattoos are a way for individuals to exert control over their own bodies and express their individuality in a world that often seeks to strip away that autonomy. The series offers a raw and unflinching look at the intersection of technology and humanity, raising important questions about what it means to be human in a world where the line between flesh and metal is increasingly blurred.

Dylan Newton (Picklefig)

picklefig.eth

In 2016 I started playing a game called Life is Strange, where you play as a photography student in a fictional Pacific Northwest town. Her approach to photography was to take photos of things she found interesting. This simple concept gave me the desire to go out and photograph the world around me. For Christmas that year, my dad gave me a 35mm Pentax Spotmatic SLR camera and began taking photos with me as a bonding activity. Later in 2018, I started watching movies like Ghost in the Shell, Bladerunner, and Ex Machina. I was filled with so much inspiration from those movies and the philosophies that drive them that I wanted to go out and take photos of my cyberpunk world and build my props to make those photos feel as realistic as possible. While having a day job at Guitar Center and working on my bachelor's degree in marketing, I would take two to three days a week to drive from my humble small town of Beaumont Texas to the bustling industrial city of Houston. The grimy downtown streets at night filled my mind with images of a dark and glamorous future. I've been chasing after images of that cyberpunk world ever since.