Image caption Many tattoo lovers collect patterns on the body without giving them much meaning.
Who didn’t have tattoos on their bodies: the last Anglo-Saxon king of England Harold the Second, as well as King Edward the Seventh, Winston Churchill’s mother Lady Randolph...
Well, besides: the famous disturber of public morals, Count Fyodor Ivanovich Tolstoy, nicknamed “The American”, ordinary sailors, musicians, prison prisoners - the list can be continued indefinitely, or rather, to primitive times, because from them everything began.
It is known that since the primitive communal system, a tattoo served not only as decoration, but also as a sign of a tribe, clan, totem, indicated the social affiliation of its owner, and in addition was endowed with a certain magical power.
How has the attitude towards tattoos and their owners changed, what tattoos are now in fashion in London and what motivates people who cover their bodies with indelible patterns?
In search of an answer to these questions, I went to the London Tattoo Convention, an international gathering of tattoo artists and lovers.
But first I decided to look into one of the London tattoo parlors.
Image caption Islington tattoo and piercing salon only allows visitors over 16 years of ageBlack and white walls, a bright red leather sofa, many awards from various professional rallies - this is what this small salon looked like in London's Islington district.
The owner of the salon, Pole Mirek, used a disgustingly screeching machine to apply a tattoo on the young man’s shoulder.
"Hurt?" – I asked him.
“Nothing, it’s tolerable,” the client answered, smiling.
“What makes you endure this pain, why do you need a tattoo?” - I pressed.
“Why are you holding a microphone in your hands? You probably like doing radio programs, it has some meaning for you. But for me, my tattoos have meaning, it’s personal, and it’s not necessary for everyone to know what exactly it means to me,” - I heard in response.
In another room of this small salon, a client - also a young man - was lying on the floor.
The tattooist was no longer operating a “drill,” as I had nicknamed Mirek’s disgustingly screeching apparatus, but was tapping with something that resembled a hammer with a long needle instead of a regular tip.
Image caption Salon owner Mirek applies a tattoo to a client's shoulderTattoo artist Brent came to London from New Zealand specifically to work at a gathering of tattoo artists and fans.
Brent is an islander and practices the Pacific style.
“A tattoo in this style shows a person's affiliation with a certain group or place, that is, it signifies his connection with the past,” Brent told me. “This is what the tattoo was originally - a kind of knowledge that should be passed on to the next generation. People today they gain knowledge from books and television programs, but previously tattoos performed the same function.”
And then Edita, the co-owner of the establishment, entered the salon: green-blue hair, the profile of Salvador Dali on her shoulder and a brightly tattooed fruit and vegetable bunch wriggling along her legs.
Image caption Salon co-owner Edita tattooed her body with everything she loves in life.“You see, here are the tiger cubs,” Edita pointed to her bare leg. “I adore them. I like flowers - here they are on my body. And I’m a vegetarian, so this bunch. I love art, I love Salvador Dali. In general, on "My body is everything I love in this life. A tattoo is freedom of expression, it makes you stand out from the crowd."
Both Edita and all the tattoo artists from her salon certainly take part in every London Tattoo Convention
The current rally is being held in the city for the fifth time.
It is possible that he will enter the Guinness Book of Records for the number of simultaneously tattooed people.
The rally took place at the Tobacco Docks, that is, in the tobacco docks, in the brick cellars of which tobacco brought to England had been stored since 1812.
Now they are used for corporate parties, filming of various TV programs and films, and such events.
Image caption Tattoo lovers held a rally in the basements of old tobacco docksAn impressive line of tattoo lovers stretched along the wall.
I was embarrassed: it seemed that I was alone without any body painting.
I walked through the basements of former tobacco warehouses, looked at deliberately extravagantly dressed men and women and tried to understand: how does their desire to cover their bodies with different patterns differ from the motives of our ancestors?
Many of them answered me about the same thing: no symbolism - just a collection of beautiful tattoos on the body.
You start with one and then it’s hard to stop.
But for Paul Says, curator of the Oxford Museum of the History of Tattoos and vice-president of the UK Tattoo Club, it's much more serious.
Image caption One of the participants of the London Tattoo Convention poses next to his painting“I have dreamed of tattoos since childhood,” he told me. “I got my first tattoo when I was 13 years old. I was almost expelled from school for this. I am a real fan of this business. I have been divorced twice in my life, and all from "Because of my passion for tattoos. But thanks to this passion, I have traveled all over the world in search of historical sources of tattoos."
"People still want to be a bit of a rebel. And indeed, when tattoos went mainstream, for many they lost their charm. Now it's big business. All these T-shirts, magazines, pop singers like Christina Aguilera are wearing and modeling the clothes with a tattoo design," Paul noted. "20 years ago we were really looked at as the scum of society. And now they're using our design.
There has already been a period in the history of tattooing when it moved from the mass category to the elite and back. It was a sacred symbol, coded information, a sign of distinction and social affiliation. The time of desacralization continues today, at least in the Western world.
The material was aired in the BBC Russian Service program “Fifth Floor,” which airs on Saturdays and Sundays at 20:00 Moscow time.
Some people think tattoos are stylish and beautiful, others are sure that they are vulgar and rude, and also dangerous and, most importantly, painful. But we live in the 21st century! Is it really that seemingly great minds are not able to come up with something that would reconcile both camps for and against tattoos? A conceptual proposal was received from a Korean industrial designer named Zijian Li: to use electronic tattoos, E-Tattoo, rather than ordinary ones.
True, this concept is designed, judging by the visualizations, for the 2020s. And the essence of the idea is to pre-prepare the candidate’s skin for interventions by implanting a certain matrix of electronic ink into it. Therefore, if a candidate wants to decorate his arm, leg, chest and buttocks with drawings, the matrix is implanted there. Once and for all.
And then it’s as simple as shelling pears: you need to select or draw a picture, load it onto your computer or laptop, and the device will wirelessly instantly transmit the necessary information to your body, telling you which elements of the implanted matrix should darken in order to appear on the skin.
Thus, the drawing can be changed almost every day, causing it to disappear completely, if it looks inappropriate where you are going, or appear in one place or another.
In the future, Zijian Li plans to improve the project so that tattoos can grow in order to symbolize the development of, for example, relationships, or to perpetuate any personal achievements. The captivating thing is that the tattoo does not need to be removed or masked - just one click of the mouse - and your body is pristine again. But when this happens, that is the question...
Oriental tattoos mean grace, elegance, harmony, wisdom, courage, strength, transience of life, luck, success.
The meaning of an oriental tattoo
In the 21st century, it has become a fairly common way to express yourself by decorating your body with tattoos. Tattoo artists from all over the world are improving their skills to offer new tattoo styles to those who wish.
Nowadays, quite a few different genres of tattoos exist, which are in demand among young people. One of these styles is oriental. This is a rather old tattoo technique, but no less popular. As they say, a classic for the ages.
Oriental style tattoos depict oriental culture. This style first appeared in Japan in the 18th century and found its fans among the samurai. But after only a few years, it has not lost its relevance and is quite in demand not only in the East, but also in the West.
People of the Western world strive to get to know the mysterious East as best as possible and gain a piece of it with the help of a tattoo.
Drawings in the oriental genre are quite colorful and original, but they are not so easy to execute. Not every master will be able to fill a drawing in this genre. From that, the oriental genre is even more appreciated among fans of tattoos.
The most popular motifs of the genre are, of course, the well-known symbols of the East, namely lotus, sakura, geisha, dragon, tiger, etc. Each tattoo has many meanings, so anyone can find a design to suit their taste.
Often people tattoo an image of a peony on their body. In the oriental style, the flower is usually printed in red. It is suitable for both men and women and symbolizes happiness, luck and love.
The lotus tattoo is also very popular. For girls, it means grace, fragility, beauty and harmony. For men, the lotus symbolizes courage, perseverance and fortitude.
Perhaps the most classic design for the oriental genre is the image of a tiger. The tattoo must be tattooed in large sizes, usually on the shoulder or the entire back. A person with such a tattoo is distinguished by special courage, honor and determination. Also, the image of a tiger will bring courage, wealth and success to its owner.
Another classic of the genre is the geisha tattoo. Geisha have long been a symbol of Japan and symbolize fragility, elegance, grace, beauty and skill. Tattoos with drawings of geishas are most often tattooed on girls who strive to resemble these light beauties of the East.
Geishas are often depicted with umbrellas or fans in their hands to convey all the beauty of the girls, because a geisha, first of all, created art. Another version of the pattern is a bare-shouldered geisha. Then the owner of the tattoo also seeks to emphasize her sexuality.
Well, the last drawing I wanted to talk about is the image of sakura. Truly, the sakura tree is the official symbol of Japan, and the flowers are particularly elegant and light. Sakura symbolizes beauty and femininity if the design is made by a woman.
For a man, a sakura branch means masculinity and will. Also, a tattoo with this design reminds of the transience of life and the need to enjoy every day.
A lot of people don't like tattoos. They may pretend that tattoos are a private thing, but we know that's not true. The end of the twentieth and the beginning of our century was marked by the arrival of tattoos in simply huge sections of society.
According to a Nielsen survey, one in five Americans have a tattoo, and almost 90 percent of them are those who have never regretted it.
Of course, it wasn't always like this. Tattoos were once taboo in the West, although the art is very ancient.
In this post I will try to consider not the historical roots of tattoos, dating back to Neolithic times (Soviet archaeologists found the world's oldest seals for body tattooing) but a new history, the history of the rise of this art in popular culture.
History tells us that the concept of self-branding fully embraced England in the 1860s, after the Prince of Wales marked himself with a cross.
Martin Hildebrand is considered one of the first tattoo artists, he opened a salon in New York in 1870, making tattooing accessible to citizens who were unable to travel abroad.
The initial function of American tattoo art was as a kind of manifestation of patriotism. It has inspired many styles.
Artist Paul Rogers got his start by giving eagle tattoos to soldiers. He influenced Ed Hardy and other subcultures as his aesthetic included American flags, plump hearts and curvy women.
America had a wartime craze for tattooing, but in less affluent urban areas and abroad the art is largely limited to a small clientele.
Like most aesthetic trends, tattoos didn't come soon enough. to rural America.
Tattoos came to the outskirts through a circus, where people with body art showed themselves as a curiosity.
Women participated in the vibrant birth of the mainstream art of tattooing, which remained beneath the surface of popular culture until the 1950s and early 60s. Sometimes they were forced to show up, for example, in biker gangs.
It wasn't until the 1970s, when the "macho ink world" became open to women, that subtle, feminine designs emerged, such as floral designs becoming popular.
By 1979, there were already many female tattoo artists, such as Suzanne Fauser, whose images of the powerful pirate (and others) had left their mark on the industry.
This post contains rare photographs and canonical examples of military tattoos that greatly influenced the development of this art.
Here's legendary self-taught tattoo artist Ron Akers at work in Bristol, UK in the 1950s...
And pioneering female tattoo artist Cindy Rae in her studio in Australia in the 1960s...
From the bright, fantastic dragons of Horikawa, Tokyo...
Tattoos in Russia at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries began to come into fashion, and in “high society” they even became one of the signs of aristocracy, and the tone in fashion was set by the imperial court.
Emperor Nicholas II himself, during a visit to Japan, “acquired a pattern in the form of a dragon on his body.” Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich also got tattoos.
The demand for body designs, mainly for oriental Japanese motifs, instantly struck high-ranking government officials and artists like an epidemic.
Already in 1906, the first artistic tattoo salon opened in St. Petersburg, the art of body painting developed and gained momentum.
But everything, like a bolt from the blue, suddenly stopped after the October Revolution.
Tattoos immediately fall into the category of bourgeois and harmful “relics of the tsarist regime.”
Tattooing in the CIS has gone through all conceivable stages of development, but its closed nature during the Soviet years created special, original styles and traditions.
But today, more than ever before and similar to the development trends in the community of the West, tattoos in Russia have become a phenomenon of mass culture: people, regardless of profession, religion and financial status, began to decorate themselves with exotic hieroglyphs, magical signs and ornaments.
