“Jails
and prisons are designed to break human beings, to convert the
population into specimens in a zoo — obedient to our keepers,
but dangerous to each other.”
Six federal prisons across Canada are planning on implementing
a tattoo service for inmates (see last year’s article Go to prison, get a free tattoo) in hopes of decreasing the possibility
of spreading infectious diseases like hepatitis C and HIV. Prison tattoo
machines are usually built with motors from hair dryers, fans, or radios, along
with ink from pens and regular sewing needles or guitar wires. While there are often
steps taken to disinfect materials, sterility control is limited and diseases are still being spread.
Finally, someone is doing something about it — and it’s caused a lot
of controversy.
This new program, set up by Correctional Service Canada, is a six-year
project costing approximately $3.7 million. The program is designed
to provide safe tattooing procedures, costing the inmates five dollars
for a two-hour tattooing session. Outside of jail, a two-hour tattoo
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Tattoo done with a sharpened paper clip and an electric motor by a more-talented-than-most prison tattoo artist.
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session can as much as five hundred dollars depending on the artist. Jails will set up programs
to train inmates to be tattoo artists (if they weren’t already tattoo
artists outside of prison) —
and yes, tax dollars will be paying for it, at a cost of about $611,000 a
year to Canadians.
In reality though, it’s not much compared to the costs of health care
for HIV-positive people (about $150,000 in their lifetime), and if this
program stops people from contracting HIV or hepatitis C, then it shouldn’t
really matter that it costs a measly three million dollars — and saving Canadian taxpayers a great deal of money in the long run, and improving the lives of people after their prison experience, thereby increasing the chances of successful reintegration into society. Canoe.ca
reports that, “for years, CSC reports have concluded that a greater
percentage of people in the federal prison population have tested positive
for AIDS antibodies or other serious blood diseases than in the general
Canadian population.”
“An estimate of the cost to treat a person infected with hepatitis
C is not available, but a study of the economic impact of hepatitis
C in Canada is currently underway. It is known, however, that treatment
with Rebetron, a drug commonly used for hepatitis C, may cost up to
$30,000 per course of treatment for an infected individual. A liver
transplant may cost up to $250,000.” (Health
Canada)
You’d think with so much public awareness about these
diseases, inmates (and most people in general) would be a lot more wary
of cross-contamination. Sadly, the methods used in most jails to “sterilize”
tattoo equipment are normally just boiling the components (if
even that), which may kill a few germs, but certainly won’t fully protect
people from disease.
* * *
There are members of BME who’ve done time and we were able to talk to a few of them (most asked to remain anonymous) about their prison tattoo experiences. Later we’ll also speak to a tattoo artist, Johann Florendo, who has done
a lot of cover-up work on men who’ve gotten tattoos while in prison
and regretted it.
Bill,
who at age 24, did 17 months on a seven year sentence
at Garden State Correctional Facility in New Jersey.
When in prison, he decided not to be
tattooed because of health reasons and a strong lack
of quality work. |
Jareb
has done time at several prisons throughout New Hampshire
and Massachusetts when he was 17. He’s got one tattoo
from that time, and he was also a tattoo artist in jail.
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“Bear”
(IAM:Bear151556)
served eight years in total, in three different stints
when he was in his twenties at the Wisconsin Correctional
System. He got his prison number and nickname tattooed
on the inside of his wrist during his sentence. |
Cam,
a personal friend of mine (who isn’t involved with BME),
spent a year and a half in an Alberta jail, and got
one tattoo while there. |
* * *
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BME:
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You three were tattooed in prison — and you
all knew the health risks of getting a tattoo. I know that getting
tattooed in prison isn’t just about the artwork — but more for the
culture. How long were you in prison before deciding to get a
tattoo, and why did you get it done?
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CAM: |
I waited about three months to get one done. They are in high
demand, and I was low on the totem pole to get one. It was prison
rules not to get one, as it was considered self mutilation, and
it could get you in the hole for a week, and even longer for the
artist. It can take time for the artist and their posse to trust
you. Trust is earned in jail so I earned it and kept it.
I got mine out of respect for some of the guys that watched my back:
it proved my loyalty to them.
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JAREB: |
It wasn’t until my fourth bid, and I got it for safety.
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BEAR: |
I got mine because I wanted something permanent to remind myself
of where my idiocy had delivered me. I waited until my third sentence,
in the fourth year though.
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BME: |
Inmates don’t usually carry around cash, so there are
different kinds of currency in prisons. Just from watching movies,
I know you can barter cigarettes, drugs, and sex. In your experience,
what did you see traded for a tattoo?
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CAM: |
A lot of times it would be cigarettes, drugs or favors, like running
errands for them or just keeping your alliance and showing your
respect.
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JAREB: |
Price was never much of an issue. You traded whatever you had.
A lot of artists were just bored and needed something to do.
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BME: |
I picture tattoo artists in jail being held in high regard
and viewed with great awe and admiration, sort of the “leader
of the pack.” Is there any truth to that?
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JAREB: |
Generally you’re right — we were treated with more respect than
anyone else.
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BEAR: |
They were looked at very highly, but only if they did good work.
They weren’t looked at so well if they fucked someone up.
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BME: |
What were their tattoo machines like? What were they made
with, and how did those supplies get into the prison?
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CAM: |
Proper tattoo ink was brought in either by guards, visitors, or inmates who
had work furloughs. The machines on the other hand, were makeshift
from blow dryer parts — usually for the motor, and a regular needle
in conjunction with empty plastic casing from a Bic pen.
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JAREB: |
The machines were really shady — usually made from ballpoint pens
and motors from cassette players. The “needles” were straightened
paperclips or guitar strings. “Ink” was made from burning
plastic chess pieces and collecting the ash soot. Pens and everything
else were from the commissary.
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BILL: |
Some machines were made with various items, like pens with motorized
parts taken from fans, radios, and other devices, but many used
the “pluck” method of using ink with a single needle.
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BEAR: |
My cellmate had a professional unit. It had been smuggled in and he had kind
of inherited it from a guy who got out. In my case, the supplies
were smuggled in, but I have seen pen ink used.
Improvised tattoo machine; electric motor, pen, and guitar wire.
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BME: |
None of those supplies seem that sterile, especially if
they’re used over and over on different people — so I’m wondering
— what steps were taken to keep things clean, if any? Where were
the tattoos done?
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CAM: |
For me, there was nothing done to sterilize anything. I bled very
badly and they used a very dirty needle on me. Tattoos were done
in the artist’s cell, and always with a few people keeping watch,
as not to get caught in the act.
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BILL: |
People would boil the equipment in water, and the tattoos would
usually be done in the tattoo artist’s cell.
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BEAR: |
I worked in the kitchen, so I had access to a pressurized steam
kettle which had to be cleaned daily using bleach water. I would
take the needles to work with me and then while cleaning the kettle,
I would just put the needles in. Then I would wrap them in napkins
and sneak them back to our cell. Tattoos were either in the bathroom
(I know, it’s scary), or our cell.
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BME: |
With these very basic supplies, tattoos would be fairly
simple designs, right? I mean, how intricate can a tattoo be that’s
been done with a guitar string and ink from a pen? What were some
common tattoos done in jail?
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CAM: |
There was a lot of racial or affiliation tattoos or tough stuff
like tear drops and other masculine items. My tattoo was pretty
unusual as it’s not too “manly.”
Cam’s
tattoo, complete with
a heart and rose.
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JAREB: |
Because of the supplies available, only black and grey work was
done, so there were a lot of skulls, gang symbols, names, and spider
webs on the elbows.
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BILL: |
It was the same in my case: I saw a lot of chains, names, teardrops,
images of clocks, spider webs and gang symbols.
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BEAR: |
Actually for some reason, names were popular; you would think
that cons would know better. Once in a while, there was some really
nice fantasy work done.
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BME: |
All of those themes are very similar, more than I thought
there would be — especially because all of you went to different
jails in different states and provinces, but what do they all mean?
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BILL: |
There’s always your common “done time” pieces, like
I said: chains, locks, clocks, hourglasses, and so on. Spider webs on
the elbow used to signify that you took a life, but it’s now become
fashionable and doesn’t necessarily mean that anymore. Teardrops
either mean that you took a life, or lost someone close to you.
Most gangs have there own specific symbols, which can also vary
from which branch, hood, or part of the country or world they’re from.
Bloods commonly use wolf prints, wolf heads, and other
lupine symbols, as well as pentagrams. Crips use the Star
of David, as well as a crescent moon, which is also commonly used
by Five Percenters. The Latin Kings have a three
pointed crown, and Aryans and Bikers use Nazi symbols. Then there’s
the obvious symbols used by different Anglo groups, like Shamrocks
for the Irish, and national flags for whatever the person’s background
is. Memorials, portraits, and banners of loved ones are also very
common.
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BME: |
So, let’s say that someone goes into jail who’s previously
tattooed — all high quality work, and then they get tattooed in
jail, and it turns out pretty badly. Are they given a lot of flack
from other inmates about their standards?
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BEAR: |
That they are. If you have good work, and then get some crap,
then people give you shit about it. Most people who have tattoos
going in are kind of snobbish about jailhouse work.
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BME: |
Bear, you’ve been in several different jails — did you
see much diversity in the tattoo culture between those jails?
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BEAR: |
In my incarcerations, I did not see a big change from prison to
prison unless you are talking about gang related work. With the
gang tattoos, if the gang represented was not strong in a particular
prison, then the tattoos were downplayed and not on display as much,
for obvious reasons. The one other change that I experienced was
that as you worked your way down from maximum to medium and then
onto minimum security, the quality of the work seemed to go down.
I credit this to the fact that when you’re in maximum and someone
messes you up in a permanent way, you have less to lose, and are
more willing to seek revenge with physical retribution.
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BME: |
There are lots of people who come out of jail with swastikas
and gang symbols that they eventually regret. They may regret them
because the symbols don’t have any meaning outside of jail, because
it reminds them of a bad time in their life, because they have changed
so much and can’t relate to the person they were inside of jail,
or just because the tattoo is of such poor quality. Do you regret
getting your tattoo?
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CAM: |
No, not at all.
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BEAR: |
No, I do not. In fact, I am going to have it redone as it has
faded somewhat.
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BME: |
Some men go into jail and come out without getting a tattoo,
and there are other men who come out with lots of tattoos. If you
were in jail for any longer, would you have gotten more?
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CAM: |
No. I got mine and that was enough. Again, I got it to show my
respect to the people who watched my back — I can’t express how
much the culture in jail revolves around trust and your word. It’s
really all you’ve got. I got one outside of jail as well, but the
experience was nothing like it was in jail, not only the procedure,
but there were no politics involved with that one.
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JAREB: |
Yes, I would have.
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BEAR: |
Probably not, as I had already begun to collect cartoon characters
and I did not want to ruin the theme. Besides, even with what we
were doing for sterilization, it was dangerous.
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A tattoo born in prison.
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BME: |
Did your tattoo provide any safety against violence?
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JAREB: |
Yes and no. It showed the crew that I rolled with, and that comes
with both safety and danger — it all depends on the politics
of the gangs at the time.
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BEAR: |
No, it did not. Being six feet tall and 275 pounds did, I guess.
And the old saying holds true: “Convicts do time, an inmate’s
time does them.” If you don’t fuck with people, people don’t
fuck with you. Usually.
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BME: |
Guards have enough to worry about — with violence and
keeping everyone in check. Was it a priority for them to try to
stop inmates from getting tattooed?
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CAM: |
It depended on the guard. If we were caught, we’d get time in
the hole, and then time in the infirmary to have the damaged tissue
removed.
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JAREB: |
The guards generally did nothing. Once in a while there’d be a
raid and machines would be taken, but new ones would be made that
same day.
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These tattoos were created
by a single-needle machine in a prison in Michigan.
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BME: |
So, it’s been a while since you’ve gotten out of prison,
but you still have your tattoo there to remind you of that time
in your life. Bear, what do you think of your tattoo now (especially
because your personality has changed so much)?
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BEAR: |
I used to be a very sick, racist asshole who was completely intolerant
of anything or anyone different. It doesn’t make much sense because
I am different than other people. One day, I just realized
that fact and everything changed. While my tattoos remind
me of a really crappy time in my life, they do show me where I was
then and how much I’ve changed, and I like them for that.
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BME: |
As you may have heard, Canada is planning on implementing
a “tattoo service,” which allows inmates to receive cheap and sterile
tattoos. What do you think of this program? Do you think more inmates
will get tattoos because of it? Have you known anyone to get hepatitis
C or other illness from getting a tattoo?
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CAM: |
Cheap and sanitary tattoos are a good idea, but it may take away
from that culture in jail. Earning a tattoo or being branded is
important to inmates. Maybe they should start a program and let
the inmates govern it, as the more they take from them, the worse
things can get. I don’t know anyone who has gotten sick from it,
but I’m sure it happens a lot — most probably wouldn’t discuss it.
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JAREB: |
I think more programs like this need to be implemented. Tattooing
is never going to stop, and the health risks are too great. Maybe
more inmates will get tattooed, maybe not, you can never really
tell. I have known a lot of people to get really sick, and yes,
get hep. It’s not nice to witness people getting sick from diseases
that are not being treated because of where they are.
I think it is hard for people who have never been in jail to make
rules for what should happen in jail. How can you tell someone to
live a certain way if you yourself are never going to have to live
it?
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BEAR: |
I think it is a very good idea. Prison should be about rehabilitation,
not retribution. Part of being rehabilitated is improving your self
image, and tattoos do that. I do think that more inmates will get
tattoos, which is a shame since most will probably do it for the
wrong reasons, and they won’t think it through. Plus, I would imagine
that the administration will not allow gang tats, so those will
remain underground. And while I’ve heard a few horror stories, I
do not know anyone personally who has gotten anything from a tattoo.
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Johann Florendo (IAM: Johann)
is an extremely talented tattoo artist, and has been in the business
for six years. He’s currently working for
Mean Street Tattoo Studio in New York City. He’s done a countless
number of cover-up tattoos on men who’ve done time. I spoke to
Johann about his experience with some of these men.
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BME: |
How many people have you worked on who’ve been in jail
and are looking for cover-up tattoos?
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JOHANN: |
I can’t recount the many times I have seen and worked on tattoos
that originated in jail. I have probably documented at least about
thirty or so over the years which were worth photographing. I know for
a fact I have done many more than that, I just never took a picture
of them (probably because it wasn’t that much of a noteworthy tattoo
that they wanted me to cover their tattoo with, or they wanted me
to rework the jailhouse line work and I had very little input on
the tattoo).
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BME: |
We’ve heard from these men in this interview that gang
related tattoos and other prison-themed work is common. What kinds
of tattoos have you seen that people are interested in getting covered
up?
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JOHANN: |
It differs from individual to individual, but most people usually
cover up old gang insignia, racist imagery, vulgar or offensive
lettering, or just plain ugly tattoos. Sometimes, they want me to
rework some of their tattoos that they received on the “inside”
and sometimes it’s possible to make it totally new and “cleaned”
up. Sometimes the work is so badly scarred or blown out that I would
liken the process to “polishing a turd.”
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BME: |
What should people know who are looking for cover-up work?
It must a difficult task sometimes because of the colour of the
initial ink and poor quality of the tattoo.
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JOHANN: |
The general rule of thumb concerning cover-up work is that usually
only darker colors mask dark colors; meaning that you can’t put
yellow over black line work and expect it to “erase” the
black and make it appear yellow. There are factors involved as well,
like how old the tattoo that is that’s going to be covered up, for
example. You’d have a better chance of success blasting some yellow
over some old black line work that has had twenty years to fade, as
opposed to black line work from two years ago. Of course, yellow
over a grayish faded black ends up being a muddied mix when layered
on top of each other, but with the right skill and technique, it
can totally be applied in a tattoo correctly without looking like
a mistake.
So, with that in mind, darker imagery usually works best: panthers
and eagles, and black tribal have been tried and true examples,
although a lot of really talented folk out there can do a cover-up
with much more lighter colors in the piece. A perfect example would
be cover-ups by either THE GRIME
or Guy Aitchison.
Not to single those two out, as there are tons of talented artists
out there, but those two stick out in my mind as masters of their
craft and really do well in the cover up department.
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BME: |
Have you spoken to your customers about the specific
reason behind wanting to cover up their tattoos?
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JOHANN: |
Some do it to rid themselves of a bad tattoo. They probably realized
the difference in quality between different artists, as opposed
to just having one choice of artist in jail. Others choose to cover
it up so that they wont have to be haunted by reminders of their
past.
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BME: |
Do they seem embarrassed about the work that they’ve gotten
in jail?
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JOHANN: |
It’s a mixed bag. Some are regretful, and proceed to get a cover-up
or get it lasered off, while others get tattooed around the jailhouse
piece to remind themselves of their time inside.
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Before and after shots:
cover-up work by Johann.
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BME: |
Has anyone mentioned what kind of feedback they’ve gotten
from people in the “real world”?
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JOHANN: |
One particular guy I tattooed, I covered a jailhouse swastika
on his leg. Once he got out of jail, he went the straight and narrow
and successfully found a job and had a family. Years later, other
parents saw his swastika on his leg when he took his daughter to
school while he was dressed shorts. Whether or not the swastika
symbolized anything negative or positive, he felt that he didn’t
want to jeopardize his daughter’s upbringing by other’s cultural
views placed on him.
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BME: |
Did they mention why they got the ink they got
(like for protection and so on)?
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JOHANN: |
Some said it was to pass the time, others said to show allegiance
to their gang, whilst others found spirituality and wanted to show
their devotion. For whatever reasons, there is some “intimidation”
psychologically when one sees a tattooed inmate. It has been said
that old sailors used to tattoo the face of Jesus on their backs
to save themselves from lashings. Perhaps this mentality is still
shared today?
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BME: |
What is the general quality of the tattoos you’ve seen
born in prison?
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JOHANN: |
Where there is a will, there is a way. I never doubt the power
of desire. A lot of talented people exist in all walks of life,
including those who are incarcerated. Inasmuch as there are a lot
of bad tattoos done in jail, there are also a few artists who are
exceptional and do amazing work.
Given the limitations (tattoos are usually illegal to do inside
prisons and materials are scarce) and lack of color, I have seen
beautiful work done with just a makeshift rotary machine and a single
needle.
I have to respect that determination.
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More cover-up work by Johann.
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In addition to the health risks, there is the risk of social stigma after release from prison with the
popularity of gang symbols and extremist racial views. While behind bars these are overall
accepted and respected,
once the person completes their sentence, they’ve got something
on their bodies that they may not be so proud of any more. They’re “stuck” with a marking on their
body that can really only remind them (and the people who see it) of one thing — doing time — and
if they’re not proud of that, then there’s an expensive problem.
Laser treatment is an option, but people can expect to pay hundreds of dollars
per visit, and most need between six and twelve treatments. That’s a
lot of money.
Lucky for people like Johann, there’s been a consistent flow of people
coming into his studio looking for cover-up work. As far as hiding the
work you’ve gotten done in prison, it’s probably the most economical
method: a palm sized tattoo by Johann would cost about $150.00.
Overall I agree with the CSC program — I’m a strong believer in avoiding
problems rather than attempting to fix them once they happen. Tattooing
in jails is unavoidable and I don’t think a lot of the men in prisons
necessarily care about the consequences of their actions — I mean, if
they did, they likely wouldn’t be in jail in the first place, right?
We, the people on the outside, may as well make it as safe for them
as we can, if not for their sakes, for ours.
- Gillian Hyde (IAM:typealice)
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