Your barista loves them. Your parents hate them. They immortalize your mantras, memories, loved ones and drunken bad decisions in wild shapes and colors. Tattoos are more popular than ever, but the tradition of body art extends far beyond the borough of Brooklyn.
A gorgeous book from Taschen, entitled "1000 Tattoos" explores the multifarious threads of tattoo history, showing the diverse rituals and motivations that have inspired people from all corners of time and space to dabble in eternal ink. From Maori peoples at the turn of the century to circus ladies of the roaring '20s to contemporary dudes who really love eggs, the history of tattooing is as colorful as it is, well, colorful.
Edited by art historian Burkhard Riemschneider and tattoo legend Henk Schiffmacher, who runs the Amsterdam Tattoo Museum, the visually exceptional compendium treats tattooing with the artistic respect it deserves. Behold, the gorgeous history of tattoos from around the world -- the abridged version.
The art of ink has traveled through many times and spaces. From Maori lands in New Zealand at the turn of the 20th century...
To the lovely Edith Burchett in London circa 1920, the wife of "Professor" Burchett, the "King of Tattooists"...
Here's the legendary self-taught tattooist Ron Ackers at Work in Bristol, Great Britain during the 1950s...
And pioneering female tattoo artist Cindy Ray in her Studio in Australia during the 1960s...
From the vibrant, fantastical dragons of Horikawa, Tokyo...
To the hunger-inducing designs of tattooist Dave Lum in Salem, Oregon...
To an eternal portrait of love a la National Tattoo Association President Brian Everett in Albuquerque, New Mexico...
No matter where or when they originated, tattoos are a wearable art form that lasts forever!
To see the entire visual history, purchase "1000 Tattoos" from Taschen.