We’ve been checking in with nonippleboy for a while now in his attempts to remove the tip of his nipple. The last time we saw him his nipples had healed from the removal, but the new tissue was growing in much lighter than the rest of his nipple.
So here we are a month later, and as you can see below he has finally reached his goal.
You can go back and see the rest of the his transformation in the nipple nullification and nipple modification galleries.
Rob and I both have made a few post about “beauty over harm” where someone took their self inflicted scars and either reworked them or covered them with a more artistic form of body modification. Yet, there is a whole other category of beauty over harm and that is those people who’s scars were not self inflicted. Often times we see women who have had nipple removal or full mastectomies due to breast cancer enhance there new altered appearance with tattooing. Sometimes it’s cosmetic tattooing to try and recreate what once was there, other times it’s artistic tattooing which takes the body part in a totally different direction than nature ever intended. Either way, it’s empowering to the wearer and something I whole heartedly support and encourage.
Below is a different example of that sort of mod, a tattoo over a colectomy scar.
What lies beyond the gates to “the biggest little city in the world”?, I am sure we can all guess, but I’ll put the full picture beyond a click through with the submitters description.
This is a tattoo of the Reno Arch done over the scar of my colectomy (colostomy surgery). It was done by Brandon Collins at Nightmare Tattoo in Reno, Nevada. The scar is about halfway up the R through halfway up the E. It is so awesome to have this instead of the scar to look at and I would like to share it with others interested in redoing scars, so I am submitting it to your blog.
Michael
Happy Friday the 13th everyone. It’s been a busy week in the news, so you can either chalk that up to good or bad luck, depending of course on how your superstitions lie. This week’s big story is about an event that happened last weekend in Marikina City, The Philippines. The plan was the throw a big party, invite as many people as they could, and hope to break a Guinness world record. Well the turnout was great, but not everyone was smiling. Especially the hundreds of young boys that attended the party. Did I mention it was a circumcision party?
Preteen Filippino boys queued in their hundreds for a daylong ‘circumcision party’, which officials hope will earn their city a place in the record books. Some boys cried in their mothers’ arms while others bit their shirts to stifle sobs as doctors carried out the surgery on dozens of makeshift operating tables in a stadium in Marikina city, east of Manila.
Officials said the event – touted in local press as a ‘circumcision party’ – aimed to promote safe circumcision. They offered poor residents free surgery that would otherwise cost at least $40 (£25) in private hospitals. In rural areas, the surgery is sometimes performed by non-doctors using crude methods.
This of course leads to the circumcision debate that many people in North America have. Whether to perform one on a newborn child, or wait until they’re older and can make the decision on their own. While that applies to North America, in The Philippines the practice seems like a standard rite of passage that all young men go though. So do the same arguments apply?
Oh, and for what it’s worth, Guinness made an announcement that they would not be recognizing this record as they don’t keep track of mass medical procedures because of hygiene and risks.
Although a new record was set this week in Norwalk, Ohio. In a single 48 hour, 26 minute session, Jeff Garton sat for the longest tattoo session on record. The tattoo was done by Robin H.M. of 546 Tattoo Studio.
More news to come, including some questionable actions taken by DC police, and a children’s book that every tattooed parent should buy.
In Montgomery County police have come under fire after it was revealed that it is policy for officers to randomly stop teens on the street and photograph them. The justification is that they’re trying to keep track of gang tattoos, but it seems some officers are getting a little overzealous in their actions.
Police say there are 34 gangs and more than 1200 gang members in the Montgomery County. One way law enforcement officials address the threat is by stopping and photographing suspected gang members — and keeping a record of identifying characteristics, including tattoos. But in the process, some youth advocates say innocent Latino teens are being harassed. County leaders, police and advocates are trying to balance the needs of public safety with constitutional safeguards.
Nancy, who asked that her last name not be used for fear of retribution, recalls what happened to her. “An officer, he asked me to raise my shirt to see if I had any tattoos or anything,” she says. “I told him no and he had pushed me against the wall I couldn’t say anything at the moment ’cause I was only sixteen.” Nancy says officers didn’t arrest her but took pictures and she doesn’t know where those pictures wound up. Walter, who also did not want to use his last name, says he isn’t a gang member or a criminal either but was pulled over recently. “They didn’t tell me nothing — they just lifted up my shirt and took the pictures,” he says. He hadn’t committed any crime when the police stopped his car, he says. “They pulled me over because they thought one of my cousins who was in the back looked like a runaway youth they was looking for,” he says.
Last month, the county’s Latino youth task force issued a report in December recommending that police review how these stops are being conducted. “There is reason to doubt the constitutionality of the stops and the subsequent searches and photographing of Latino males in the County, due to statements of youth who were stopped,” the group, officially called the Latino Youth Steering Committee, notes in the report.
They must have been working a lot of overtime when the Baltimore convention was going on. All those tattooed tourists passing through could have all been gang members.
About two months ago I posted an article about Walter Meyerle, a tattoo artist from from Pennsylvania who was accused of trading sex for tattoos with an underage girl. The investigation into Walter has now turned up evidence that he may be guilty of over 200 sex crimes, including sexually assaulting a 4 year old.
Meyerle was arraigned Friday on charges including aggravated indecent assault, statutory sexual assault and corruption of minors and was being held on $5 million bail. Dressed in a yellow prison jumpsuit, he said little during the hearing. The judge told him not to contact any of the victims from jail and asked the same of Meyerle’s wife, who authorities said is under investigation as well. A message left for Meyerle’s attorney by The Associated Press was not immediately returned.
Investigators said Meyerle victimized the children of his friends and girlfriends, children who were vulnerable because their parents were drinking and taking drugs. Authorities say he sometimes lured younger victims with toys and gifts. In one case, prosecutors said, Meyerle molested the children of a family that moved in with him after their house burned down. He sexually assaulted a 4-year-old girl 10 times and made her watch pornographic movies, and also molested another girl, who was 4 or 5 years old, 50 or 60 times, according to court documents. Investigators also allege he told a 15-year-old girl she’d have a surprise in nine months after they had unprotected sex, and the girl ended up getting an abortion, according to court records.
“This is one of the largest child abuse cases I’ve seen by one individual,” Schorn said.
In today’s final crime-related story, a Myrtle Beach man has been getting international attention after his mugshot was posted online.
Police said Robert Norton Kennedy was arrested Saturday after he spit in a man’s face in front of a police officer. In his mugshot, you can read the text tattooed on Kennedy’s forehead that says: “With God All Things Are Possible. God Loves You. Please forgive me if I say or do anything stupid. Thank you!”Horry County police said they have gotten phone calls about the mugshot from news agencies as far away as New York and London.
I suppose spitting in someone’s face right next to a police officer would could as doing something stupid.
New Zealand readers will probably be familiar with this next story. For years Te Papa (the national museum) has been fighting with the French government to return a number of Maori skulls that have been on display in a number of museums. Well this week a number of the heads have started to make the journey back to New Zealand, however it seems the museum wasn’t too happy to let them go and took photographs of the skulls, even after being asked not to.
A French museum ignored Te Papa’s protests by taking and then publishing a photograph of a preserved Maori tattooed head. The action was “inappropriate and culturally offensive”, Karanga Aotearoa Repatriation programme chairman Pou Temara said. Photographing the dead was frowned on in Maori culture. “With ancestors, it’s doubly inappropriate for photographs to be taken.” Rouen Museum is the most recent of five European institutions to have handed over Maori remains to a New Zealand delegation, which includes members of Te Papa’s repatriation programme, who are due back in Wellington with the nine human heads tomorrow.
This week Rouen Museum published a 3-D image of the toi moko, given to the museum in 1875. Professor Temara said that, because the head had been in Rouen’s possession, Te Papa could not stop the photograph being published. “We are not happy with it, but there’s not much we can do about it, except to register our protestation.” The preserved head is believed to have come from a Maori warrior. Up to 20 toi moko in French museums are expected to follow the heads returning tomorrow. French senators are travelling to New Zealand for the handover. A bill was passed by the French Government last May to cut through the red tape surrounding the repatriation of remains. French ambassador Francis Etienne said the photograph would have been taken to educate French people about toi moko. “It’s not a lack of respect or something done in a nasty spirit.”
For a little more background on the skulls and their significance, this article is worth a read.
While we’re on the subject of cultures that use body modification, Modern Ghana has an informative article about the tribal customs behind the facial markings that are seen in Nigeria.
THE tradition of African tribal marks dates back to the 14th century and forms part of the rich culture of the black race, most especially in Nigeria. At that point in time, people attached so much importance to tribal scars for various reasons Tribal marks were a result of religious beliefs passed down from family to family, either as hearsay or just a common societal norm, usually as relating to a particular god or deity. Similarly, Africans of old viewed tribal marks as a means of proper identification of people from different neighbourhoods. Members of the same village, family tree or lineage had the same tribal marks. The hometown, village and lineage of a child or anyone with tribal marks were quickly known and therefore, outsiders, who did not have such marks, were immediately spotted.
However, the ancient custom of tribal marks is fast fading away in the country. In its place, people are now embracing tattoos to either beautify their bodies or for spiritual and other purposes. Because of the fact that marking is usually done to youngsters, most Nigerians whose faces bear ethnic marks had little choice in the matter. When they become parents, however, they often decide not to give their children facial marks. The pain and risk of infection along with scorn and discrimination the child may face later in life are all factors that make parents reject facial marking. Clearly, the popularity and acceptance of facial marks are waning. Individuals now prefer that their “identity card” should be in the wallets, not on their faces anymore.
Back to North America, where TLC’s show “Strange Sex” is taking a look into genital piercings this weekend.
Whistling wieners, holes in the moneymakers, nipple piercings and all sorts of fun stuff are on TLC this Sunday. Rocket scientists, retired grandparents, soccer Moms and school teachers have genital piercings? TLC is premiering an all-new episode of ”Strange Sex” airing this Sunday, May 15 at 10/9c. Sex is never boring for James and Andi, they have supercharged their sex life with genital piercings. Later, an accident forces a doctor to amputate a man’s penis. How will he rebuild his identity and his marriage, without the organ that makes him a man?
I’m curious to know if they’ll tackle heavy genital modifications, or only focus on piercings.
In Ohio the local Fox affiliate has done a story on the growing trend of “scratchers”. Aside from the hosts and a few broad generalizations early on, the story is pretty informative and unbiased.
They’re part-time tattooing wannabes called “Scratchers.” It’s a group of people who have taught themselves the art of “permanent ink.” It’s growing in popularity and leaving people right here in the Tri-state with more than just a design on their body.
Local health departments regulate tattoo studios in many jurisdictions, which should give the person getting a tattoo some piece of mind about health risks but you want to do your homework. Make sure you ask a lot of questions before you decide to let someone put that tattoo design on your body.
Here are some of the question you should ask.
- What are the laws in your city/state on tattooing?
- What certifications and/or licenses are required to tattoo legally in your city/state?
- What is the procedure of operating an autoclave? what temperature must the autoclave reach and for how long?
- What is a blood-born pathogen and how do you prevent the spread of it, and cross-contamination?
- How do you thoroughly clean and disinfect needles and tubes before autoclaving?
- What layer of epidermis of the skin must you not enter to prevent scarring of a tattoo?
- What is plasma, and what does the leakage of plasma during a tattoo indicate?
These are only a few of the things that are absolutely necessary for a tattoo artist to know, and if you can’t answer all of these questions with concise understanding, you are not ready to be a tattoo artist.
I’ll give a cookie to whoever can identify the famous rapper whose tattoo is featured in the photo montage of bad scratcher tattoos.
“Scratchers” isn’t the only slang word making the news this week. TheUnion.com has a great story explaining what the term “gauging” is, and why you’re not cool if you simply say “stretching”.
Kids gauge their ears now. Do you know the term “gauge” in this context? It refers to the process by which you gradually stretch a “regularly sized” pierced earhole into a larger one. (I’m nothing, if not informative.) By the way, don’t indiscriminately toss out some sort of descriptive reference like, “stretched ears,” or you’ll need to immediately deduct several points from your coolness rating. If you’re like me, this occurrence would firmly place you in the negative numbers.
The funny thing is that I’ve displayed gauged ears for quite some time. This is of the INvoluntary sort; however, subsequent to my youthful pursuit of donning heavy chandelier-type earrings which just about equaled the weight of real chandeliers. I didn’t realize I was sporting abnormally large piercings until an acquaintance helpfully mentioned to me that I had not so much earholes as slits and large slits at that. Though she succeeded in undermining my ear confidence, she also succeeded in accomplishing something else much more memorable – she rendered me speechless. I simply made a squeaking sound. Now that I think of it, perhaps the utterance was not so much validly vocal as aptly auditory; the result of air flowing through my enlarged piercing as we listened to the sound of silence.
I mean, what is a person supposed to do with this physical feature? Are there ear burkas? Earlobe tucks? How about earhole lifts?
Now if you happen to be a big fan of the Brooklyn bridge, then mark May 22nd in your calendar. It’s the 128th anniversary of the bridge, and Brooklyn Tattoo is going to be giving away Brooklyn bridge tattoos for $28.
On May 22, Brooklyn Tattoo on Smith Street is throwing a party for the Brooklyn Bridge’s birthday the best way it knows how — by offering $28 tattoos of the fabled span. The tattoo parlor threw a similar party last year (where tattoos were, naturally, $27) and inked nearly 70 skin versions of Roebling’s famous suspension bridge. “I would say it’s the most tattooed homage to Brooklyn there is,” said Brooklyn Tattoo co-owner Adam Suerte, who got his own version on his neck for the bridge’s 125th anniversary. “I tattoo at least a half dozen bridges on people every month.” For this special occasion, which comes two days before the 128th anniversary, tattoos will be done on a first-come, first-served basis, and those looking to take advantage of the deal can pick from several pre-drawn images that evoke the iconic skyline.
Here’s something for our geekier readers. And I’m not talking about sci-fi or comics.
Heidi Moore has found the owner of the Gaussian copula function tattoo — it’s advertising copywriter Jared Elms.
Jared’s professional work is great stuff — I particularly like his idea of pitting the Chrome browser against a potato gun in a speed test. His body art, by contrast, is more emo grad student: his first four tattoos were inspired by Samuel Beckett, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and the Uruguayan-born French surrealist Comte de Lautréamont. And now, to that list, you can add David X Li.
All my tattoos are all concepts that are smarter than me that I’ll be chasing my entire life. It’s how I know I will never regret getting them, because these are concepts I never want to forget… It’s pretty corrupt. It’s been hitting me pretty hard what happened just a few years ago. Then you see Carl Levin and the Senate looking to bring criminal charges against Blankfein. There are some key learnings that came out of that period in history, and it felt like it was a really appropriate thing to eulogize on my body… To me this represents the recipe for human greed. It was severely misappropriated by traders, the way it was oversimplified and reduced it to a single gamma number – and they couldn’t stop using it even knowing the inherent fallibility in it…
And who said math wasn’t sexy?
Are you a tattooed parent? Having a hard time finding a children’s book that has characters that your child can relate to? Well look no further.
My Dad’s Got Tatts, a work in progress, is a tale about a young boy’s father who is covered in colourful images. “I was just mucking around with my godson. I never thought of writing a book,” Mr Hines said. Each of the 12 pages has taken him up to six hours to illustrate during the past year. “I do doodling on paper every day. It’s no different, there’s just no blood and it doesn’t move.” Mr Hines said the book, while not your average kiddie story, was educational: “It tells them not to go to a shoddy tattooist.”
And finally, in the only celebrity story I could bring myself to share with you, Kat Von D‘s ex is setting up shop near her studio with plans to start a turf war of sorts.
TMZ spoke with Oliver Peck — who worked alongside Kat for years — and he BLASTS his ex, telling us, they “make real tattoos” at his new place … unlike Kat’s “gimmicky tourist tattoos” a few blocks away at High Voltage.
Peck doesn’t stop there, insisting, “Nobody gets a good tattoo [at High Voltage]” — and urges ink enthusiasts to stop by his place instead … “We’re a real tattoo shop.”
Well, that’s all there is for this week. As always, remember to send me any stories you find either by clicking this link, or e-mailing me directly.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Back in December, one of the Guess What posts featured a type of nipple nullification that is a little different than what we’re used to seeing. Nonippleboy is in the process of doing a DIY nipple removal, and in the first stage he removed just the tip. Well it’s been a few months, so lets check back in and see how things are coming along. But before that, here’s what his nipple looked like back in December.
A couple of days later a scab formed, which left the nipple looking like this.
And finally here’s how his chest looks today.
Now Nonippleboy’s goal is to have his areolas remain intact, but be completely smooth. His right nipple was removed by tying off the tip with elastics and then cutting off the excess. His left nipple was done by cutting off the skin, which is why the area is a little larger. He hopes that the scar tissue will eventually darken, leaving him with a smooth chest.
You can see more of his progress in the nipple nullification gallery.
At times, it is humbling to me that I am writing for Modblog on this site that, many years ago, introduced me to new aspects of body modification, and for that matter, a whole new world. Several years ago (no doing of mine, mind you) Jim Ward, the father of modern body piercing, shared some of his tales on BMEzine with a feature called “Running The Gauntlet“. These articles exposed many readers to the early days of (modern professional) body piercing. They were a must read for any piercing aficionado and chock full of interesting tidbits from our modern history……….and then a few years later Jim announces he is going to take these stories and dozens more like them, and write an entire full length book chronicling his life, his passion and the modern history of body piercing.
Needless to say, I was thrilled at the prospect to be able to read more of his stories. However, I must be honest, I was a bit apprehensive. His short stories on BME were awesome, but could he possibly fill an entire book with material of the same caliber? For that matter, could he even write a book that would so captivate my ADD having self, that I would even be able to finish it?
For the full review, keep on keeping on.
I can honestly say that Jim went well above and beyond my expectations and he most certainly kept my attention from the first page to the last. I was worried, that there would be a lot of stories I had heard time and time again and that the rest would be filler. Of course, there were several parts I was vaguely familiar with, but seeing them presented in this much detail and in chronological order shed new light upon them. As a body modification history buff, I have become pretty jaded when it comes to learning new bits of history. That is why it is such a true thrill for me when opportunities to continue my learning arise and this book was chock full of them.
The way Jim tells his story is so honest and heartfelt, I feel as though I now know him as only a close friend or lover normally would. He may not know me from Adam, but after reading this I almost feel as if I have known him forever. A lot of that feeling can be credited to the sharing of every intimate detail. When I every intimate detail I truly mean “every”. The book starts off primarily focusing on his childhood and progresses to his current. From humiliating tales of urinating himself to extremely personal tales of his first time masturbating or his sexual escapades with a priest, he truly tells all.
As the book progresses so does his life. He goes into great detail about his early piercing techniques, his business relationship with Doug Malloy and learning proper technique by trial and error. For instance, we all take for granted the fact that piercing guns are not acceptable for even a basic lobe piercing. However, this knowledge didn’t come without some experimentation, such as the piercing gun contraption he used to use for piercing (like the nipple piercing pictured below).
He explains all about the founding, expansion and eventual demise of The Gauntlet. He doesn’t just tell his tale either, from Sailor Sid to Howie and dozens if not hundreds of piercers and mod artist in between, he truly does an outstanding job of documenting our modern history. As most of our readers should know, Jim’s contributions to the piercing world certainly were not limited to the work coming out of his shops. In fact, more people probably discovered piercing from his publication PFIQ then from any other source at the time.
The real shame in this book is that it is being marketed almost purely as a book for piercing aficionados, which is really a limited demographic. While piercing is a huge part of the book, there is so much more to it then just that. It is the story of a gay male coming out in a time when that was a far bigger deal then it is today. It is the story of a man taking his fringe interest and turning it not just into a business, but an entire industry….and if that’s not the American dream, I don’t know what is. This book has so much to offer to so many people, I’d like to see it far outreach our little community.
This book is now added to my “required reading” list for my current and any future apprentices. For who we are now as a community is a direct result of Jim’s passion, his work and his innovation, so anyone learning under me damn well better appreciate that. I encourage all of our readers to purchase this book and if you can’t afford it, perhaps get together with some friends and throw in for it. One way or the other, if you have even the most minimal interest and respect for body piercing, you NEED to read this book.
The book is for sale on Amazon.com and elsewhere. However, do me a favor if possible, and buy it directly from Jim rather than supporting some mega-corp. Also, if you are a piercer who orders from Anatometal, Barry is being generous enough to sell the book (which you can include in your regular orders) and give 100% of the proceeds back to Jim.
Happy April Fool’s day everyone! With ModBlog’s annual joke already finished, it’s time to get to some legit news. Hopefully all of these stories are real, although you never can tell on the 1st of April.
The Copenhagen Post this week featured the first of a multi-part story on the history of tattooing in Denmark. Anyone with an interest in tattoo or Scandinavian history should take the time to check it out. The first part covers the beginnings of tattooing in Denmark from the 1800′s sailor tattoos, to the mid 50′s when King Frederick IX posed for Life magazine shirtless, showing off his collection of ink.
“This is where it all started,” said photographer and author Jon Nordstrøm when The Copenhagen Post met him outside of Nyhavn 17, home to Tattoo-Ole, the oldest functioning tattoo shop in the world. Though tattoos can be traced backed some 5,000 years, the modern history of tattooing in Denmark began in the late 19th century, when sailors poured into Nyhavn sporting tattoos they had gathered on their journeys and were greeted by a few enterprising locals who had set up rudimentary stations that amounted to little more than a box to sit on, hand-held tools and some ink.
At the turn of the 20th century, Nyhavn was the only place in all of Denmark – indeed in all of Scandinavia – where those inclined could get tattooed. It was a distinction the area held for nearly a century. “Denmark, and Nyhavn in particular, was the headquarters for tattooing in Scandinavia for nearly 100 years, from the 1890s to 1975,” said Nordstrøm. “Aside from a few ‘sailor shops’ that popped up in Sweden in the ’40s, where tattoos were done in a backroom, there was no tattooing in Sweden or Norway.”
Tattoo Ole also became known for the work he did on a particular customer. In 1951, a LIFE magazine article featured a shirtless King Frederik IX – a former sailor himself – showing off his physique and his extensive collection of tattoos, which included the handiwork of Tattoo Ole. (See a short video of the King showing off his tattoos here)
I’ll be sure to include next week’s installment in the weekly news post so those interested can keep up.
More news to come, including a marketing strategy that may or may not be real.
Are you someone who likes a gamble? Well if you live in San Francisco, tonight you can take your chances on getting tattooed with a design you pick randomly.
As the Lower Haight Art Walk approaches (from 6pm to 9:30pm on Friday, folks), so does the annual tattoo roulette tradition at Idle Hand Tattoo Studio. See, each year they offer “$60 Get-What-You-Get Tattoos” night. It goes something like this: They have a large gumball machines filled with tattoo designs, you fork over a comparatively scant $60, turn the dial, and outcomes your new tattoo. Whether you like it or not. But, since the artists at Ide Hand are top-drawer, you’re bound to like it.
I’m not entirely sure what to make of this, as it sounds like it could be a good deal if you’re looking to get some piece of random flash tattooed on your body.
Speaking of deals, in a marketing move that could quite possibly be an April Fool’s day joke, Ecko have launched an interesting new ad campaign.
The company offers templates for the two stores’ rhino and shears logos, but encourages those interested in the discount to “personalize… Add color, scenery, etc., but the logo needs to be intact.” Of course, to get the discount, the ink must be permanent and not a rub-on transfer.
I noticed there are no size restrictions, so it might be worth getting a really tiny version of the logo tattooed on the bottom of your foot, or some other non-visible location.
The scumbag of the week award goes to Arthur Moore for not only sexually assaulting a 9 year old boy, but also tattooing his name on the boy’s shoulder.
Assistant District Attorney Kyle Rossi says last spring, Moore assaulted the boy in his home, where Moore was renting a room. Shortly after that, Rossi says that Moore then tattooed the boys upper shoulder. When the boy’s family discovered the tattoo, the boy then told them of the sex abuse and a warrant was issued for Moore’s arrest. Arthur Moore was arrested last month in Albuquerque, New Mexico and then extradited to Rochester. Rossi says that Moore threatened to kill the boy if he told anyone about the abuse. Moore has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child for those alleged threats.
I think this is a great example of what not to do. Ever.
College ModBlog readers, and those of you who went to some kind of post-secondary education. After the bills were paid, and the books bought, what did you spend your extra money on? Across North America the number one answer to that question is “buy booze”. Well The Towerlight, Towson University’s newspaper took a look into the lives of students who spent their money on body modifications instead of alcohol.
The four or more years students spend at college can go by faster than many expect. A permanent way to capture a moment or idea from that time is gaining popularity on college campuses, according to senior and former Towerlight contributor Amy Hefter, causing the formation of a unique culture. “The draw of tattoos is having beautiful art or sayings on your body,” Hefter said. “Tattoos allow you to spend your money on something that is much more permanent than a case of beer.”
Three years ago, Towson University decided to explore the culture surrounding tattoos through photography for a class project. She entitled it “The Tattoo Project. “ To date, Hefter has photographed 90 students and two professors. Through word of mouth and social networking publicity, “The Tattoo Project” has grown into much more than a class assignment. Hefter is now reaching out to Towson faculty to participate. She plans to continue shooting students and faculty until she graduates in December.
This week’s collection of celebrity stories is thankfully short.
Gucci Mane, the rapper known only for his facial ice cream cone tattoo, has finally come public as to why he chose such a unique design.
In the past few months, the Atlanta MC has exhibited some less than savory behavior, culminating with tattooing a large ice cream cone on the side of his face. However, Gucci wants the public to know that he is of sound mind, and feels that his ink was a good decision. “Everybody wants to know why I got the tattoo, did it hurt, what it means,” he told Billboard. “I just tell them it’s my trademark. It represents being the coldest in the game.”
Now I could be wrong, but don’t musicians want to be considered “hot”?
In a shocking turn of events, Amber Rose went out in public with a skintight dress showing off her nipple piercings. I don’t really know who she is, or what she’s famous for, but here’s a picture of her anyway.
Yesterday, Amber Rose stepped out in NYC wearing a skin-tight freakum dress. This wouldn’t normally make headlines because, let’s be real, when isn’t Amber wearing an outfit that shows off her assets? However, on this particular occasion, we couldn’t help but notice the nipple piercings poking through her dress.
Well, that’s it for the first news post of April. As always, keep sending in those news stories, and have yourselves a great weekend everyone.
Is there anything Efix can’t do? From his scarification work to his surgical modifications, Efix can pretty much take on any challenge and pull it off brilliantly. Heck, even when he’s taking a rare break to relax while on his Australian tour, he still looks good. So good in fact that he’s totally worthy of today’s BMEBoy post!
When it comes to scarification pieces, sometimes a detailed cutting isn’t what the person being scarred wants. Sickpuppie here had his scars done by Kelly D, which fit nicely with his series of five microdermals. Asymmetrical pieces such as this always evoke reactions from people, either positive or negative, simply because the human brain is wired to look for symmetry. Combining the asymmetry with a minimalistic design really makes this project stand out as something fairly unique.
It also looks like one of his nipple piercings is diagonal while the other is horizontal. You can see more scars, both minimal and elaborate in the scarification galleries.
When it comes to nipple removal, the question always arises, “What will it look like healed?” Well, thanks to this newest submission to the nipple nullification gallery you can.
They still may lighten up over time as they’ve only healed for a year at the time this photo was taken.
This week’s news round-up should be a bit interesting as I’m fighting off a fever and having 20 tabs open in my browser is starting to blur my vision.
Granted it appears I’m not the only person with a fever out there. Take this California man who has an extreme case of Bieber fever.
Now with the recent announcement that the zodiac signs are all changing quite a number of people were scared their zodiac tattoos will need to be covered up or removed. Well it turns out the good people at CNN have found out that your sign actually isn’t changing at all. (Thanks to Chez for the link).
But before astrology fans scrape the ink from their arms because they think they’re now a Virgo instead of a Libra, they should consider this: If they adhered to the tropical zodiac – which, if they’re a Westerner, they probably did – absolutely nothing has changed for them. That’s worth rephrasing: If you considered yourself a Cancer under the tropical zodiac last week, you’re still a Cancer under the same zodiac this week.
That’s because the tropical zodiac – which is fixed to seasons, and which Western astrology adheres to – differs from the sidereal zodiac – which is fixed to constellations and is followed more in the East, and is the type of zodiac to which the Star Tribune article ultimately refers.
Lots more news to come, including an old ModBlog regular making the jump into the limelight, and a publishing company offering free books to their fans.
Say you love a book so much you get a tattoo that is inspired by it. This happens all the time. Heck even I’m guilty of hiding a literary reference in my skin. Well it turns out that if you’re a fan of the publications of Black Ocean, and you have a tattoo referencing one of their works, you’ll get a lifetime subscription for free!
Of course not everyone is as die hard a fan of poetry as others. To some, loving their favorite football team is all the inspiration they need.
Not a sports fan? That’s ok, you can show your dedication to something else you love. Like your cell phone provider. Wait, what?
The big question, of course, is why is he doing this? Carrion told IntoMobile that he’s “just a really, really big fan of Verizon Wireless,” and that the idea to put Big Red’s logo on his body (for life) came to him “while [he] was paying his monthly bill.” We gotta hand it to the guy for putting ideas into action so quickly.
When asked if he was looking to get publicity in some way or looking for any kind of compensation from Verizon by putting a the corporate logo tattoo on his hand and forehead, Carrion replied that “Verizon probably spends millions in advertising and marketing every year, I’m not doing this to get money, but sponsoring my tattoo would be a relatively cheap way to increase brand exposure, and I wouldn’t turn down any compensation.” He continued to explain that the forehead placement would ensure that “the logo will be in front of all my friends and anyone I run into on a daily basis.” It’s clear that this Big Red customer is seriously dedicated to the Verizon network.
Moving on, we’ve got news out of Atlanta about a tattoo artist who was arrested last week for not only tattooing underage children in his home, but also for creating a fake tattoo license. While he is being charged for tattooing the minors, it seems the courts are pushing hard for a conviction on the forgery charges.
Heading north to Oshawa, ON, a number of people are being advised to contact the Durham region health department. Basically anyone who visited a mobile tattoo and piercing studio may have been exposed to various diseases after the operation was found to be using non-sterilized equipment.
While the Oshawa health department is out inspecting studios, it seems that down in Wyoming a number of studios are pushing for state-wide regulations.
But in Wyoming, where Edwards now runs his business, customers aren’t likely to find that certificate of assurance saying the business has passed a public health inspection, or even met sterile practices considered paramount in the industry. Wyoming’s lack of tattoo regulations places customers at risk, Edwards said, especially when they turn to so-called “scratch artists” working from their garages. ”If there were regulations, those people would have to be certified,” Edwards said. “They would have to keep to the same standards as the artists who have worked their whole lives in the business.” Edwards has an unlikely ally in Charles Jamieson, the Park County public health officer who’s pushing the state to regulate Wyoming’s tattoo industry.
The only problem I have with this article is the thought that a tattoo artist and a public health officer are unlikely allies. I’m fairly certain the majority of clean studios are happy to meet regulations as they not only protect the clients, but also the artists.
Now, this next article is probably going to generate some discussion, and I went to multiple sites to confirm that this was a legitimate study before posting it. According to researchers, stainless steel tongue studs are more likely to cause infections than any other type of jewelry, including plastic.
Physician Ines Kapferer of the Innsbruck Medical University in Austria and colleagues identified 68 women and 12 men, average age 23, who had tongue piercings with studs inserted. The researchers examined tooth and gum health in each volunteer and removed the studs. The volunteers were then randomly assigned to get a new stud made of stainless steel, titanium, polypropylene (a plastic polymer) or polytetrafluorethylene (Teflon). After two weeks, the scientists removed those studs and took swabs of the tongue, the piercing canal and each stud itself.
Tests for 80 bacteria linked to illness or infection showed that 67 of the 80 species had accumulated substantially more on the stainless steel studs than on the polymers, and 28 of the bacteria showed up more on titanium than on the polymers.
Now the problem I have with this study is that while in the limited scope of the testing the stainless steel posts accumulated more bacteria, they don’t mention sterility issues when the piercing actually occurs. This of course could lead to a slew of shops being able to claim that acrylic jewelry is safer to piece with than sterilized stainless surgical steel. Any thoughts from the piercers that read ModBlog on how this study could impact their business?
Moving on, there is some sad news to report this week. Jack Dracula, former Coney Island tattoo artist and circus performer passed away at the age of 75.
His name was Jack Dracula or Jack Martin or Barcelona Jack, the Marked Man but he was born on Christmas day, 1935 as Jack Baker. After a short stint in the Navy, Jack got his start tattooing after he entered a shop on Coney Island owned by Brooklyn Blackie, when he was tossed a gun and told to do it himself. Jack did a piece on his thigh and never stopped. Over time he did work and received work in various shops, tattooing his his face, cheeks, chin. forehead and all around his eyes. Most prominent were the images of Bella Lugosi/Dracula and Boris Karloff/Frankenstein on his stomach. All in total the Marked Man had over 400 tattoos.
Jack spent the last of his days in West Philadelphia’s Park Pleasant Nursing Home his legs amputated from the knees down due to complications with diabetes developed in the 90′s. At the age of 75, our beloved Jack Dracula died today at 5:30pm, after a meal of chocolate ice cream and a long, interesting life, reportedly due to a heart attack.
Rest in Peace Jack.
–Kevin Dalton
Down under things are still looking tough for the people affected by the massive flooding that has affected a large portion of the population. For some Queensland tattoo studios, the flooding has washed away almost everything.
“I am covered for a sonic boom, can you believe that? But not a flood, a sonic boom,” said the 35-year-old business owner and mum to three boys. She’s been knee-deep in mud in the clean-up of her flood-affected salon called Body Bare in the main street of Ipswich. ”I was scouring my insurance policy’s PDS (product disclosure document) on Monday night and they won’t be paying anything out for a flood,” said Ms Hill, who has owned the business for five years.
Around the corner on Brisbane Street, Janelle Roberts, owner of the Ultimate Image Tattooing, wants to move out. ”I can’t stay here. I want to get to a higher location but I have three years left on my lease,” she said. ”Do I have to keep paying rent if my shop is ruined? We’ve easily lost $50,000 just in art work and equipment and will be shut for who know’s how long. My building’s just not safe right now. It’s old and the wiring is shot.”
On a much lighter note, the international press is buzzing due to the revelation that Germany’s first lady has a tattoo. Not just any tattoo mind you, a decently sized tribal piece on her shoulder.
Ever since we heard that Germany’s First Lady Bettina Wulff has a tribal tattoo on her right shoulder, we’ve been waiting for her to wear a sleeveless gown and show off her ink. So far, no dice! But last Friday night, she stepped out to the Semper Opera Ball in Dresden wearing a lacy, black dress and we can totally make out her tat. While we think it’s a pretty cool accessory, we can also see how it might be considered un-First-Ladylike.
I’m just waiting for the day the US has a president with full sleeves. I can only imagine the poutrage at that.
Of course, the week wouldn’t be complete without a look at the people we all love to hate.
Jesse James and Kat Von D are still in the news this week with rumors floating about that they’re now engaged. The article has a fantastic photo of what a happy couple may look like.
Now when rapper Gucci Mane was finally released from a mental institution recently, he did what any newly certified sane person would do: get an ice cream cone tattooed on his face.
Rapper Gucci Mane has had a large tattoo of a triple-scoop ice cream cone inked onto his face just days after he was released from a mental health facility. Mane, real name Radric Davis, appeared in court on January 3 claiming mental incompetence and saying he was unable to ‘intelligently participate in the probation revocation hearing’. The 30-year-old was sent to a mental health facility to be evaluated.
It is unclear why he has since been released and how it affects his probation status. When he was released he got the ice cream facial tattoo complete with the word, ‘Brrr’ on the cone and red lightning strikes coming out of it.
Now, I’m not posting this to mock his tattoo, because frankly, it’s his skin and he can choose to do whatever he wants to do with it. However, when a person walks out of a mental institution, especially one with an entourage and handlers, you’d think it’d be a good idea to steer them clear of a tattoo studio, just in case their judgement is still impaired. But given that he already has neck and facial tattoos, who’s to say he wasn’t planning it for a while.
A few months back I posted a story describing how Rooney Mara, the actress to take on the role of Lisbeth Salandar in the American adaptation of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, had undergone a pretty radical transformation, including multiple piercings. This week the studio released a few photos of Rooney, and you can see that she really has given herself over to the role.
From what I can see the list of piercings include multiple ear piercings, a lip ring, a single nostril, and according to other news sources, both of her nipples. Who knows, maybe the remake won’t be a complete waste of time.
In today’s final story, we’ve got someone who should look pretty familiar to ModBlog readers. Zombie Boy, aka Rick Genest first popped up on ModBlog back in 2006. Since then, this young man has appeared several times on ModBlog, as well as in other publications all around the world. Well this week he’s been thrust into the media spotlight thanks to Nicola Formichetti, stylist to Lady Gaga and Thierry Mulger’s new creative director.
This week, Nicola Formichetti was in Montreal photographing a young man named Rick Genest, whom he found on Facebook and is known as Rico. Mr. Genest had his body tattooed to resemble a skeleton, with blackened eye sockets and ghoulishly large dentiture on his lips. “Rico is my muse,” Mr. Formichetti, who styles Lady Gaga, wrote in an e-mail.
Of course, with Mulger introducing a new clothing line, and Gaga about to release a new album, the time was right for Formichetti to unleash his muse upon the world via this video that Lady Gaga released yesterday.
So I guess all those people who said he’d never amount to anything with tattoos like that should be eating their words right now.
So that’s it for this week’s news. If you come across a story that you think should be included in the round up, just send it in.
