Basically I gonna re-write or translate my previous Japanese post. Discussing what would be the difference between “Tattoo artist” and “tattooist”. My personal goal is to be labeled (?) as “Tattoo artist”.
Why?
At least in my book, tattoos are a extension of my art expression. Yes, it is the “main” expression per se, but I do also have interests in other fields as well.
One big example is photography.
I became interested in photography thanks to tattooing. When one’s finish the piece, next step is to document its work.
And photos are the ultimate way of recording the work, and consequently using it as a promotion, studying, etc, etc.
Many of my early works got lost. Yes, I was bad as photographer and tattooist, and still struggling on both forms.
The problem is that I started on the film era (yes, I know…don’t even try to guess my age!) and after taking several rolls for one tattoo, maaaaaybe one could come out good.
And yes, most of times, NONE would come out good. And I was on the late example most of times.
Switching to digital, relieved me from enormous stress. Monetary, principally…
And that’s how I seriously started get interested in photos. Now I could take millions and not care for the results, so to speak.
Got immense amount of help from friends, and other information were collected on books and of course, trial and error old school way.
I still like to take photos of landscapes, and for my work being directly involved with human beings; I do also love portraits.
Many experiences were made during the years, and some projects do still in work, and other simply faded away.
One that enjoyed doing was this with my friend Sooz Lillend. Shot in 2009 when she was visiting Tokyo, and we decided to do some body painting and subsequently a photo session.
So, here’s a example of media mixes and art forms, always having tattooing as a main filter.
Obviously, I as a “maker” can’t be entitled to judge if this is “art” or not. Not a bit of sarcasm or contradiction here.
I did it purely for the artistic purpose. So the result (at least for me) is purely artistic. It’s when I feel my self (or do call myself) “Tattoo artist”.
