There's a reason people stop mid-conversation to stare at someone's wrist. Micro realism tattoos do that. They're small, impossibly detailed, and they look like someone shrunk a photograph and placed it on your skin. What Exactly Is a Micro Realism Tattoo? Micro realism is a tattoo style that takes realistic imagery and scales it down to a small size without losing detail. Think portraits and animals and flowers and objects, all worked in with beautiful shading and with finen