ABC News just posted a few photos from the Hell City convention in Phoenix. Cheers to them for some thoughtful captions and not the usual point-and-laugh at the freaks.
I heard the show was once again a success. Cheers to Durb and the crew for another great event. I'm sure their own photos will go up soon, so check back on their media page or head there now to see images from past shows.
Adding to our features on gorgeous photography with tattoo themes, here's a taste of Brian Cummings' Bodies of Work. Brian debuted this work in April, so I'm late to the game, but the photos can be appreciated at any time. Here's what he says of the series:
As a visual artist, I am drawn to contrast. Contrast of light and dark, b&w, drama and comedy, etc. I like the push and pull of two extremes. I'm intrigued by the wide gap between two points. As an art form, tattooing does that for me. On one hand, you have something that for some is rebellious and taboo. On the other, it is an art form with a long tradition with great beauty and personal meaning. I wanted to explore the idea that tattooing is a form of fine art and the body is just another canvas. Pulling lighting influence from the Baroque masters, I attempted to treat each subject as a canvas painting. What would a Reuben's painting look like if his models for tattooed?
Last month, Patrick posted a preview of the book, and over vacation, I made it my essential reading -- although not beach reading as I didn't want to risk damaging the 200-page hardcover. While I devoured the entire book in just a few hours, its resonance is long lasting. It is in one volume a book of history, artistic reference, and tattoo lore as well as a meticulously researched biography.
As Fred Stonehouse says in the Foreword, Jon Reiter has made it his mission to "clarify much of the shadowy information" surrounding Dietzel. Reiter cites the Norwegian National Archives to early US newspapers to direct quotes from Dietzel's grandson to paint a picture of a man deemed "one of the last true gentleman tattooers."
The book begins with a short introduction to Dietzel's family life, illustrated by photos from the late 1800s and beyond. We learn that he went to sea at the age of 14 and got his first tattoo--an anchor on his hand--when he docked in Southern Wales in 1907. It was aboard the Augusta later that year when he started his 60+year tattoo career with "six needles bound with cotton and set in a block of wood."
More than tattoo facts, the book tells stories of alleged ship wrecks, war time tattoo culture, and carny life--where Dietzel spent a good portion of his career tattooing and as a "Tattooed Man" sideshow performer. It also shows Dietzel as an artist constantly seeking to refine his craft, noting that he took art classes at Yale and elsewhere at various times in his life. His artistry is ever-present in the hand-painted flash spreads--these pages alone are worth buying the book. [Reiter also gives some background on the root of the word flash, which is fantastic.]
A cast of other characters populate the book like William Grimshaw, Thomas Riley, Cliff Raven, Phil Sparrow, Gib "Tatts" Thomas, and Kenneth "Shaky Jake" Jacobs--a villain who tries to put others out of business through badmouthing and even setting up crooked cops outside of competitors' shops to steer away would-be clients. These great stories never detract from Dietzel's work, which attracted tattoo collectors from all over the world to his Milwaukee studios even before tattoo magazines, the Internet and general acceptance of the art, as Reiter notes.
Dietzel retired in 1967 when Milwaukee banned tattooing. He and Tatts, at the ages of 75 and 65, put up a fight at City Council meetings, but they were largely alone in doing so. In 1974, Dietzel died of leukemia, three weeks before his 83rd birthday. His life is illuminated and honored in this excellent book.
My buddy Julien from Inoveryourhead.net, sent me this tattoo by Loic of Needles Side with the message, "Is this as awesome as I think it is?" I think it is. But what do you think it is?
Our homie Nate Igor Smith, of the infamous Driven By Boredom, was at the Gathering of the Juggalos in Cave-in_Rock, IL, and captured the madness (much NSFW madness) of Insane Clown Posse fans. What we've learned from these photo sets is the following: Juggalos are generally not skillful drinkers; wrestle-mania is popular (and mania in general); and their tattoo tributes are ...
Other than maybe Black Flag bars you don't really see a lot of people
getting the same band tattoo, but fucking EVERYONE at the Gathering has
the Psychopathic Records hatchet man logo. It's fucking crazy. I started
out with the idea of shooting all these ICP tattoos but seriously 75%
of the people there had them so I had to concentrate on the more
outrageous tattoos, but even then I was sort of ignoring half of them.
It just went on and on. I guess if you are the type of person to travel
to the middle of nowhere for an Insane Clown Posse show you are
probably the type of person to get their logo tattooed to you.
[...] But yeah, this gallery is full of hatchet men and ICP tattoos but
there are also Dark Lotus tattoos, Twiztid tattoos, Kottonmouth Kings
tattoos and pretty much any of that wicked shit. Even Coolio has an ICP
tattoo. These kids are seriously down with the clown.
What's a Juggalo? According to Wikipedia, "Juggalo or Juggalette (the latter being feminine) is a name given to fans of Insane Clown Posse or any other Psychopathic Records hip hop group. Juggalos have developed their own idioms, slang, and characteristics." Evidently, there is "Juggalo related crime" -- crime that does not include Vanilla Ice performing at the Gathering.
If you're seeking something more palatable than "inartful" tattoos and men with (non-ironic) mullets vomiting, check the other DBD galleries.
David B. Wiseman, a psychologist, showed 128 undergraduate students photographs of tattooed and non-tattooed female models, described as "college instructors." He found that college students prefer tattoos: "Analyses indicated that the presence of tattoos was associated with some positive changes in ratings: students' motivation, being imaginative about assignments, and how likely students were to recommend her as an instructor."
Surprise. Surprise.
Freakonomics had another post on tattoo statistics, which you can read here.
Photo by Will Vragovic for the St. Petersberg Times
I know I should be offline during my vacation but I wanted to quickly share with you a sweet story that Colin Dale of Skin & Bone sent me.
Mimi Rosenthal celebrated her 101st birthday getting her third tattoo at Requiem Body Art in Spring Hill, Florida. According to TampaBay.com, Mimi got her first tattoo at age 99, a dime-size blue butterfly on her leg. She thought it was too small and vowed to go bigger next time. At 100, she got a larger tattoo--a flower--on her other leg. The problem was that she had to lift her pants up to show it off, so this latest one is now on her arm for easy exhibition.
Tattoo artist Michelle Gallo-Kohla, a long-time family friend of the Rosenthals, said that working Mimi's thin and fragile skin was "uncharted territory" but she took it slow and Mimi was pleased with her new sun flower tattoo.
When asked "Why a tattoo? Why now?" she replied "Why not?"
Right on, Mimi! She also jokes that the next tattoo will be on her butt.
You'd think with this kind of zest for life and humor, people would be positive about the article but, alas, "good Christians" infiltrated the comment forums as they usually do in mainstream tattoo stories and started calling the great-grandma a sinner. Then there are those who asked if Mimi remembered the Holocaust. And of course there were dumb jokes. [But there were a couple of good ones like "When she gets old the tat won't look the same." hehe]
It's not the first time, however, that we've written about a centenarian getting tattooed. In April 2009, Colin Dale tattooed 103-year old Karen Fredso Larsen on her hand (despite Danish law prohibiting hand and facial tattoos).
The smiles in the photos of both women show how much joy they've gotten from their tattoos. There's no sin in that.
The past few weeks, Needles and Sins has been a bit light as I finished up my latest tattoo book and then fled for Greece. Right now, I'm on the island of Chios (where my dad is from) in the Aegean Sea. Yes, I know whatcha thinkin: Why the hell is she online when she's on a gorgeous Greek island.
Well, for one, I missed you. Two, I'm a nerd. And most important, I wanted to share with y'all a snippet of my experience here and get your thoughts on it. So, it is with great introspection, social interaction, and very expensive education that I have deduced the following:
Being heavily tattooed in Greece still sucks.
Ooh, I can hear your thoughts again: Boo-freakin-hoo. People stare. People comment. And they do so in different languages. Deal with it, Marisa.You're on a Greek island!
I have been dealing with it. For years now. Remember my whining last year to Athens News about being spit on and other fun interactions with old Greek ladies because I've defiled myself?
I've also promoted Greek tattoo artists here like Dimitris Kalomiris/Hellenic Stixis (whose work is above) and Mike The Athens. Both artists take a spiritual approach to tattooing in a country where many believe tattooing to be sacrilege. There are, in fact, many great artists in Greece, and that talent is growing. There are even two(!) studios here in Chios including Birthmachine Tattoo, who did the following work in progress. Nevertheless, the heavily tattooed are still significantly few here, and life isn't easy for those who are.
Which brings me to my point: because of the negative reactions from strangers and even my own family, I've been hiding my tattoos. I'm talkin' wearing long-sleeve tees to the beach in 100 degree heat, and wraps over all my dresses at night. [Now, when I go to baptisms and weddings, I cover up because I don't want the attention taken away from baby and bride. That's not a big deal for me.]
For those days where I just want a swim or a drink at a bar, I wonder if I'm doing myself a disservice by covering up and not instigating discourse to try to dispel the myths surrounding tattoos--and especially tattooed women. In this act of conflict avoidance, am I creating more problems by letting those in the know think I have something to be ashamed of? Or am I just trying to have a nice vacation with my family in a place I love without causing too much of a ruckus. I'm having a hard time figuring it all, which explains all this blah blah.
So my question to you as I look upon my next week here: To cover or not to cover?
