Tattoo Studio

Project

I have chosen to do this project on a particular Tattoo studio in Middleton as it was the one that I visited many moons ago when I had my tattoos done. I had originally decided to do it as an independent project last semester and I contacted the tattooist, Louis, back in September to find out if this was in fact feasible. I was not sure he would agree to the project as he is very busy but he did get in touch and subsequently arranged for me to visit the studio in between Christmas and New Year. I wanted to meet up beforehand in order to sort out a workable plan so that I wouldn’t impose on him too much but manage to complete the project successfully. When I went to the studio and told him my intentions he seemed very enthusiastic. He admitted that he himself had a great interest in photography and if it wasn’t for the fact that he was incredibly busy as a tattooist, he would perhaps become a photographer instead. I discovered that he had a Canon 5D, lighting and a backdrop set up in the studio as well. He showed me his extensive range of art and photography books and talked about some of the projects that he had done and indeed aspired to do. 

History of tattoos

The practice of tattooing dates back to ancient history. It is a cultural and tribal form of marking identity, rank, victory and status. It also represents rites of passage, symbols of religious and spiritual devotion, pledges of love, forms of punishment, amulets and talisman and marks both outcasts and convicts. I want to study its history and consider how the principle of tattooing has seemingly remained unchanged for thousands of years since the days of clay disks to hold red ochre pigment and sharp bone needles to pierce the skin. Incidentally, the oldest known human to have preserved tattoos on his body is ‘Oetzi’ a Bronze Age man found after 5,500 years in the Tyrolean Alps between Austria and Italy. Interestingly, study of his skeleton indicated the presence of arthritis and the location of a number of the tattoo marks corresponded to accepted acupuncture points for the treatment/relief of this ailment suggesting a further dimension to the practice.

Ideas

I want to do a project on people who actually get tattooed from the perspective of identity. I really enjoyed a previous project on Irish immigration and wanted to use a similar formula for a totally different clientele. The idea would be to visit the studio on a number of occasions in order to photograph and interview a number of clients to try to build up a narrative as to why they have particular tattoos. I remember when I was considering the design I wanted, I thought long and hard about it as it would be a permanent form of decoration and if I wasn’t happy with the end result, then it would be painful and costly to erase.  

© Rankin

I want to photograph the individuals in a way that will show a side of their personality. I am obviously interested in the tattoo but would like to use creative cropping and closeups in order to get a particular perspective. There is a particular image of David Bowie taken by the photographer Rankin that I like as his perspective is somewhat distorted but it works aesthetically for me. I want the shots to be funky and quirky rather than just a straightforward shot of someone showing off their body adornments. I am also thinking of using a medium format camera though I will have to consider this carefully first. I wasn’t sure about using a black and white format but the tattooist suggested it would work. I much prefer portraits to be in black and white as a general rule anyway.

© Bernard Clarke

I intend to look at the work of professional photographers who specialise in tattoo photography, I have found a couple, Lionel Deluy and Angela Boatwright and will research their work more. One photographer who immediately appealed however is Bernard Clark as his photographs are completely different to the ones I have come across so far. He installs a background post-production, which looks to be HDR and the contrasting colours and shapes initially seem to clash with the model, but they actually work very well and indeed complement the model. I would consider employing a similar method in my photographs but would fade the background more than Bernard Clark does. If I choose to use black and white format, I think this would suit the aesthetic better.

Timeline

I will have to rely on the Louis’ goodwill in order for me to complete the project. As previously mentioned, he is incredibly busy and though there is a room where I can keep out of his way, I am very aware that I might be imposing on both him and his clients. The idea is that I hang around for lengthy periods of time so that I can potentially use a couple of his clients in a day, perhaps three. I will set up the studio in the back room so that it is ready to shoot straight away, as unlike the Irish identity project, where I visited the same people over a long period of time, I will only get to meet the client for a very short time. The Tattooist is confident that people will willingly have their photograph taken. I will wait to see if this is the case. I am going on Saturday with the intention of taking photographs, though if this doesn’t happen I will check out the lighting kit he has installed there. Whilst I am waiting for potential subjects I can look through his many books for research purposes.

I did a practice shoot at  home with my husband as the 'model'. He could not be serious at all and most of the shots I took are really not worth publishing as they are so bad! Here are a few that I took that I actually like though, strange as that may seem...

© Andrea Percival