Skin

My children, and bringing up my children, I'd have to say, saved me as a person.

– Martyka ‘Skin’ Brandt

In my mid-20s I was a law unto myself. I did what I wanted. I respected no one else. I'd walk into other gang's pubs, I'd walk into their pads. Usually I'd wake up in hospital wondering what happened ...

– Martyka ‘Skin’ Brandt

I like finding the beauty in things that are often overlooked and ignored. I suppose the main reason I photograph people like that [people on the fringe] or make films about that subject matter is to open up people's eyes. People can be so sheltered and narrow-minded and never really look outside their comfort zone.

– Director Tom Gould, in a 2014 Pantograph Punch interview

My patch to me, it's my heart, my soul. The Mob symbolised freedom, pure freedom. It was like the wild west. There was no law really.

– Martyka ‘Skin’ Brandt

I was cuddling them [the children] and I wasn't feeling anything at first, and I didn't know how to. Because I'd never had those feelings before — because I'd never been hugged or cuddled. I was like an iceberg, a solid rock.

– Martyka ‘Skin’ Brandt