A CENTURY OF INK
Tattoos have changed in design, impact and popularity for more than a century. Pop culture writer David McComb studied the rich history of body art in a worldwide quest that culminated in the book 100 Years of Tattoos (Laurence King Publishing). Sailors,
EARLY ADOPTERS
Sailors who travelled the world and wanted lasting mementos of their adventurous trips were one of the earliest and most persistent groups to seek out tattoos. They were often combined with a heart-shaped remembrance of the girl back home or a patriotic reference such as a flag during wartime. Paul Rogers, working as a tattooist since in 1932 in the U.S., operated out of a mobile home called the Iron Factory and developed a modern tattooing tool. “Iron” is the slang word used to describe tattoo tools.
TATTOO AS ART
This colourful, chaotic tattoo artist’s studio seems to swirl before your eyes with its pulsating vitality. Mitsuaki Ohwada, of Yokohama, had such a large impact on the world of tattooing that he was invited to the Peabody Museum in Salem, Mass., to be part of its “The Art of the Japanese Tattoo” exhibit in 1986. The city of Yokohama heavily influenced the tattoo world when it was the first Japanese port opened to outsiders after 200 years of isolation in the late 1800s. Sailors and traders returned with these elaborate drawings.
SEAFARING TATTOOS
The inspiration for nautical tattoos was a combination of the sailor’s experiences and the artist’s abilities and imagination. Percy Waters, working in Detroit in the early 1900s, established a successful tattoo supply business serving parlours across the country. Naval trip high points such as crossing the equator, local beauties both natural and human, elaborate ship rigging and the worlds “hold” and “fast” on a sailor’s hands were all subjects to be inked. Waters created many templates which were copied by landlubbers.
TATTOO AS FASHION
Westerners embraced elaborate Japanese body art with its motifs of dragons, flowers, feathers, birds and every colour of the rainbow. French-born tattoo artist Tin Tin travelled Japan’s tattoo parlours learning the style and methods which even included woodblock prints. Famous in France, his work is worn by fashion designers Marc Jacobs, Stefano Pilati and Jean Paul Gaultier. This is art as pure adornment, not a record of travels or events.
TATTOO AS REBELLION
Japan banned tattoos for more than 50 years, beginning in the late 1800s, as it wanted to be seen as sophisticated in the west. This drove tattooing underground with the criminal classes inking themselves, showing they were members of gangs called Yakuza. Western occupying forces lifted the ban in 1948 and tattooing moved into the mainstream. Using a homemade tattoo machine fashioned out of an electric drill, this Japanese master sketches an elaborate geisha design on a woman’s back.
TATTOOS AND POP CULTURE
It’s no longer a shock to see beautiful, accomplished people in the public eye with extensive tattoos — they’ve gone mainstream, especially among those who want to be seen. While model Niki Taylor had many of hers tattoos removed, others, such as Kate Moss, have added to their collection. Singer Rihanna has purple stars cascading down her back, actor Johnny Depp has extensive arm art and singer Lady Gaga had a cherub tattooed on the back of her head while on stage at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York to mark the release of her perfume, Fame, in 2012.