New Article Posted! (Diego Olavarría Interview)

Posted on February 18, 2009 by Jordan Ginsberg

In 2004, Darrin Fowler started the BME Scholarship project, a community-funded program established to award one student from the BME community every year with a donor-based scholarship, based on the strength of an essay of the scholarship administrator’s and judges’ choosing. The winner of the 2005/06 scholarship was Diego Olavarría, whose winning essay can be read here.

We recently caught up with Diego and exchanged e-mails over a couple of days, discussing where his education has taken him, where to find artistic inspiration, and his take on how society interacts with body modification nowadays. (I’ll note that Diego’s last response is actually more like a short essay, but it’s fantastic. I hope we’ll be hearing from Diego again very soon.)

To participate in or donate to this year’s scholarship fund, please visit BMEScholarship.com.

To read Diego Olavarría, BME Scholarship Winner, please click here.

[Ed. note: Comments on this post have been disabled. Have at it in the forum attached to the article. Thanks.]

I’ve Got the Bones on the Mast

Posted on February 18, 2009 by Jordan Ginsberg

As ubiquitous as some find suspensions these days, one thing that typically stands out to me is, to a person, how calm those suspending always seem, and how peaceful the process always comes across as being — with the one exception being coma suspensions. Which isn’t a knock on them; aesthetically, coma suspensions are some of my favorites, but they just seem inherently more chaotic in photos, don’t they? Either way, I really love this series of Robin suspending with the help of Concrete Jungle Tribe in Malmo, Sweden. More shots, after the jump.

See more in “Concrete Jungle Tribe“ (Suspension Teams and Bonus Galleries)

The First Time I Got it I Was Just Ten Years Old

Posted on February 17, 2009 by Jordan Ginsberg

So, we’ve previously discussed the inherent evil of cats, but fine, this shot of NeverendingLust and Mrs. Norris (guess who’s who!) is pretty cute, I guess. A closer shot of his work-in-progress torso tattoo by Brad Brown of Trouble Bound Tattoos in St. John’s, Newfoundland, after the jump.

Made Good Under Pressure

Posted on February 17, 2009 by Jordan Ginsberg

Fan favorite Miss Duveaux weighs in on diamonds, love and marriage:

I got this from Ilya, because I always said I feel marriage is a silly thing, I never want to get married, I just feel better celebrating love in a different way … the only good thing about marriage is the huge kick-ass diamond every girl wants to have, but never gets (or at least it’s never big enough). And I just got it, my own huuuuge diamond, diamonds are a girl’s best friend … so I’m pretty darn happy!

(Tattoo by Lennaert at Frostbyte Tattoo in Alkmaar, Netherlands.)

See more in “Hand Tattoos“ (Tattoos)

Also Coming to the Philly Convention? BME!

Posted on February 17, 2009 by Jordan Ginsberg

(Self-done BME logo cutting by Jon Underwood — his first, no less!)

As if John Joyce, John Durante, Brian Decker and Ryan Ouellette weren’t enough to get you to the upcoming Philadelphia Tattoo Arts convention, running in scenic Philadelphia from February 27 to March 1, hold onto your butts, because BME will be there too! And not just walking around fondling people, either — we’ll have a booth and everything! The ever-lovely MissMeg will be on hand to pierce, and Rachel will be there holding down the fort, filming, taking photos, selling T-shirts [Note: buy T-shirts, lots of them] and doing all sorts of fun giveaways. This is shaping up to be one hell of a weekend, friends — get there.

Also, there is still space available for people/shops/etc. looking for booths. Visiting the convention’s web site for details, or call Troy at 215-882-1362.

I Don’t Care For Any Casanova Thing

Posted on February 16, 2009 by Jordan Ginsberg

I was going to post this on Valentine’s Day, but I thought, Hey, people are jaded enough about this phony, manufactured holiday as it is, so why compound that with a poopy J. Geils reference? But now, well, Valentine’s is a year away, so let’s poop all over it, right? This tattoo belongs to Ashley, who says, “Nobody breaks my heart without me getting a ridiculous tattoo about it.” That’s the spirit!

(Tattoo by KJ at Federal Hill Tattoo in Providence, Rhode Island.)

See more in “Hearts and Love Tattoos“ (Tattoos)

I Have Only One Burnin’ Desire

Posted on February 16, 2009 by Jordan Ginsberg

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: attention to composition in photography goes a long way. This photo of prymy3rdeye, with tattoo work by Pat at Atomic Zombie in Edmonton, Alberta, is a perfect example.

See more in “Septum piercing“ (Nose Piercing)

The Hobo Code

Posted on February 16, 2009 by Jordan Ginsberg

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Hey, there’s HoboSteve (is that on the list?), getting tugged around the room by that vicious creature on the floor. Can you sense the despair in his eyes? Truly horrifying. More shots of this torture chamber, after the jump.

(Pulling done at Anomaly in Pasadena, California. No animals were harmed in the making of these hilarious photos.)

See more in “Pulling and Trucking“ (Ritual)

John Joyce, Philadelphia and You

Posted on February 16, 2009 by Jordan Ginsberg

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You begged. You pleaded. You weren’t satisfied with a line-up of scarification artists at the upcoming Philadelphia Tattoo Arts convention that featured only John Durante, Brian Decker and Ryan Ouellette. Well, Syracuse heartthrob John Joyce will also be in attendance and is looking to fill up his Friday. How can you resist? You can’t. And not only that, but he’ll be bringing the very talented (and open for appointments) Rick Lohm with him, as well.

Healed shot of the above scarification, after the jump.

Five Arms, One Ear

Posted on February 15, 2009 by Jordan Ginsberg

That right there? That is just one cold fancy piece of custom jewelry, put into place by Vern K. at Stay Gold in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

See more in “Industrials and Orbitals“ (Ear Piercing)