Silly gossip, but it put a spotlight on the question: How young is too young for a piercing & tattoo? Over the weekend, Fox News & CNN ran a story asking this very question. As noted in the article, there are instances where families are letting kids as young as 10 years old get tattoos -- like Jerry Garrison who lost custody of his grandson for allowing him to be part of "family tradition" as a pre-teen, or Chuntera Napier who was arrested after her young son got a memorial tattoo for his brother.

According to the National Conference on State Legislature's on "Tattoos & Body Piercings for Minors," there's a fight going on between parents who want final say in how they raise their kids and the government:

The battle over whether or not teenagers may receive tattoos or body piercings is typically one fought between parents and children, but the same debate has entered state legislatures. Advocates of prohibiting minors from getting tattoos or body piercings want state laws to reflect parental rights and allow them to have the final word on minors altering their appearances in this way.

A number of states have laws prohibiting these practices on minors without written parental consent. At least 39 states have laws prohibiting minors from getting tattoos. Thirty-one states have laws that prohibit both body piercing and tattooing on minors without parental permission.  Many of the laws across the country establish financial penalties, prison time or both for violators.  Most of the laws define "violator" as the person who performed the tattoo or piercing.

Legal battles aside, what about the ethical duties of tattooists? Should some obligation be placed on them to decide whether this is the right thing for the child? If so, would it be a case-by-case basis or general rule -- no one under a certain age no matter what?

My friends and I like to joke around about what our bodies would look like if we were able to get tattooed as teenagers. I'd probably be covered in Duran Duran portraits. Then again, I ended up removing a good tattoo that I got at age 24 (to celebrate passing the Bar exam) because it didn't fit with the overall body plan, which developed in my thirties. And how will I feel about this plan decades from now?

As we change and evolve, our tattoos remain fixed in one moment. That's what makes them wonderful. And that's what makes them difficult.

What do you think about the "how young is too young" question? Share your thoughts on the Needles & Sins FB group page under this post's comments section.   

Misspelled tattoos are not uncommon. Sadly. And unlike the many tiepoos typos that pepper this blog, they are not as easily fixed by the delete button. Diligent artists take care to check and double check text before tattooing, offering clients opportunities to make sure the word or phrase is exactly what they had in mind. But mistakes still happen -- and tattoo studios get sued.

In Canada's National Post yesterday, Armina Ligaya reports on a memorial tattoo gone wrong where a Nova Scotia small claims court ordered a shop to pay almost $9,000 to a client for laser sessions, travel and legal fees, and general damages. This is after the shop offered to cover up the spelling mistake -- which the client refused -- and then paid for eight laser sessions prior to the judgment.

The problem is that the studio stopped paying for the laser sessions, which is what sparked the suit. Personally (not in my legal opinion), if a shop is going to make amends for a mistake, it should do so in a clear and organized way, following through on promises, which should be written out and agreed to by the parties. For example, knowing how long and expensive laser removal can be, the studio could have limited its obligation by offering to pay for a set number of sessions -- say 10 to 12 sessions -- or until a certain percentage of the ink is gone. Then they could have had the client agree not pursue further action against the shop after those sessions. Everybody signs. Everybody knows what to expect. And hopefully, everybody abides by the agreement.

The client, who had the opportunity to review the lettering before it was tattooed, should also burden some responsibility, and maybe that's what the studio was thinking when they stopped paying. In fact, the article cites another Nova Scotia case where a judge ruled that a client with a misspelled tattoo was "the author of her own misfortune" when she reviewed the design on a computer design and stencil, and did not pick up the mistake. 

But not returning the client's phone calls, as alleged, is not the right way to do business. People sue when they are unhappy and feel they're being mistreated. So many law suits can be avoided by better handling of client issues ... and of course, spell check. 

Just got back into Brooklyn and wishing for a few more days of vacation, but to help me ease back into the NY grind -- and appreciate the treasures of the city -- our friend Nick Schonberger sent us the link to this wonderful BBC video interview with Tony Polito.

Tony is the very definition of a Brooklyn tattoo legend. He started in the business at the age of 14 in 1959 and continues to tattoo today (although he closed his Crown Heights studio last year). In the video, you'll hear him talk about tattooing sailors from the Navy Yard, his penchant for pin-ups, and the 1961 NYC tattoo ban, which forced him to work underground (literally, his basement) for a while. You'll also catch Tony tattooing another tattoo luminary of Brooklyn, Mike Perfetto aka Michaelangelo.

The footage is just over three minutes and leaves you wanting more from this old salt. But I have good news! Tony, Mike and many others will be featured in an upcoming book on native Brooklyn tattoo artists, culture and history by Pete Caruso, aka Brooklyn P. With such a strong tattoo heritage in the borough and stellar art being created, it will be an important addition to your tattoo library. More on the book when it's ready to drop.

Meanwhile, check the video to get a taste of Tony's stories. 

The BBC covered the show as well with a particular bent on tattoo regret. I was immediately put off by the usual tired line: "Tattoos are no longer the trophies of rockers, sailors, bikers, bohemians and criminals, they have gone mainstream." [It's also used in the next linked article.] Dr. Matt Lodder found a line in a 1926 Vanity Fair article declaring that tattoos were no longer just for sailors, but have "percolated through the entire social stratum." So please, reporters, cut out the cliches. Then the BBC reporter goes on to ponder whether there would be less tattoo regret if people could "test drive" a tattoo, so she gets a temporary tattoo and goes to the convention to see what the reaction to it is. People winced. Rightly so. At least the focus of the writing was on those who do not regret their tattoo choices like Joe Monroe, Cammy Stewart & Lestyn Flye of Divine Canvas. They are shown in a short video of the show embedded in the online article.



My favorite reportage is The Guardian's "Tattoos: Eyecatching But Art They Art?" by art critic Jonathan Jones. Again, there was "Once associated with sailors, gang members, or circus performers, these markings are now a mainstream cultural force." I too winced. But the rest of the writing makes up for it. Here's a taste:

It is the weight of ritual, the sense of undergoing something that changes you, that stops me personally from ever considering a tattoo. But it must also be part of its attraction. Just by visiting a tattooist such as the celebrated Danish artist Eckel you can change who you are. The change is permanent. You are a work of art.

In the Pacific, anthropologists have associated tattoos with a fragmented conception of identity, a belief that a person is not one but many things. Putting on the shining painted skin of a warrior changes your nature.

Are people now seeking to change their natures, to become fabulous new beings? Perhaps there is something digital and post-human about it all, a new sense of self that is no longer bounded by being inside your own skin, but penetrated - as by a needle - by social media and constant internet information, so you feel part of a larger entity, that imprints itself on your body.

For less talk and more imagery, check the Flickr sets of these photographers:

* Ed London Photography (First image above)

* Rhodri Jones/Rodrico (Image of Jo Harrison tattooing above and facial tattoo below).

* Wild Orchid

* Solamore

I was at first skeptical of the article and whether it would be another "point and laugh at the freaks" piece, especially when I read about Tommy spending 52 of his 69 years "indulging in his bizarre hobby and now has tattoos not only across his arms, hands, legs, torso and back but also on the soles of his feet, bottom, entire head, lips and even his genitals."
A penis tattoo...on someone's great-grandfather! Heaven forfend!

But if you read on, it turns out that the focus is more about love and his life with his late wife Sandra who died seven years ago. They were married 44 years. Sandra dared Tommy to get his first piece when they were 17 during a picnic with friends who were getting tattooed at a parlour in Blackpool. Tommy said, "[...] it was agony but I kind of loved the pain and it became a bit of a drug after then, so I got all my body covered except my head and face."

Sandra never got any tattoos herself but never minded Tommy's as long as he did not get tattooed above the neck. Tommy broke that promise after her death:

I did promise at the time, but after she died I was so devastated that the only thing that I could do to make me feel better was have a tattoo tribute to her - and my face and head were the only places I had left.

Tommy's last tattoo honors her with the phrase, "I love you always, Love Tommy" on the back of his head, where a bit of non-tattooed skin remained.

I found this whole story very moving. It's funny because I've been mocking the faux drama in last night's premier of NY Ink, in which every single client had a memorial tattoo accompanied by tears and sob stories (and the artists trying to give sympathetic looks). Even Brian tweeted during the show: "Let it be known #nyink fans - you don't have to have someone die to get a tattoo #nyinkdrinkinggame."

But I felt Tommy's story had soul, commitment and true reality. I recommend it.

It's official. On Tuesday, The Washington Post declared tattoos "mainstream," thereby negating all the hard-earned street cred we've so desperately fought for.

Ok, it's not so bad.

Of course it starts out with the old wrong-side-of-the-tracks and sailor references that we read in almost every "mainstream" article on tattooing, but then it gets a bit meatier. The reporter had gone to the DC Tattoo Expo last month and talked with some tattoo veterans including Tramp Welker, Chuck Eldridge, Mary Skiver, and Jack Rudy, among others. I particularly love Mary's quote when discussing her clientele, the majority of which are 40- to 80-year-old women: "They've raised their kids and their kids' kids, and now they're ready to be themselves." And Jack weighed in on those trying to cash in on the art:

"I never would've believed that there would one day be these tattoo shop owners with no tattoos," said Jack Rudy of Los Angeles, one of the pioneers of a style called fine-line black and gray. "They just think of themselves as some sort of entrepreneur, and even though that's true, this business is so personal to us that are in it. That's like a vegan owning a steakhouse. It's not against the law, but why would you even want to own a steakhouse if you're only going to eat the steamed vegetables? But people don't think twice about owning a tattoo shop and not having any tattoos. They think of it as the same thing as a doughnut or dry cleaning franchise."

The article has just a few photos from the DC show but also includes some interesting info graphics like the one above. They're creative -- not 100% accurate -- but worth a peak.

Thanks, JD, for the link!

The London Tattoo Convention made the headlines again, although less so this year, but what's out there is pretty good. Here are a few of my faves:

For their In Pictures section, the BBC has a beautiful slideshow of the event including the photo above of Martin Poole, a tattooist in Cornwall who does hand tattooing. In fact, he has done most of his own facial work. I interviewed Martin and will try to have our talk up later this week.

Cheekier photos and captions can be found on Asylum UK's The London Tattoo Convention's Best & Weirdest gallery, which also has shots beyond tattooed butts like the one below.

 

And finally, this video by the Telegraph entitled "My dad's gonna kill me - getting your face tattooed" with some excellent footage and interviews on traditional tattooing among other scenes from the convention floor. Check it below.





My thoughts on the show are up soon as well as those from Brian, who took his own great shots.