Some tattoo history:

Tattoo comes from the Tahitian word "tatu" which means "to mark something". It is claimed that tattooing has existed since 12,000 years BC and has many different purposes from culture to culture. Around the globe tattoos have been used to signify membership to a certain group or society. Biker gangs like Hells Angels tattoo their group symbol on each member to show that they are a part of that group. Also it is believed in many cultures that the wearer of a particular image calls the spirit of that image. The strength and aggression of a lion would belong to the person who has it tattooed. This tradition is shown in today society by the popularity of tattoos of lions, tigers, snakes, bears and birds of prey (A brief history of Tattoos).

Tattoos were popular amongst soldiers and sailors and was thought that soldiers and sailors got tattoos to try and distinguish themselves amongst the hundreds of other soldiers and sailors; a way to escape and become an individual. Many people got into tattoos for this same reason; to try and be different from everyone else; a way of making yourself stand out from the crowd (Raul Bustamante 2014). Tattoo legend Don Ed Hardy was quoted saying “A tattoo is an affirmation: that this body is yours to have and to enjoy while you're here. Nobody else can control what you do with it.” (Take me down to tattoo city - Ed Hardy 2011).

One of the most prolific tattoo artists and the artist who has inspired me most in this project is Norman Collins better known as ‘Sailor Jerry’. In the 1920s when Collins was of age, tattooing was an emerging American counterculture. Tattoos were a mark of not following the mainstream; choosing the live outside of the box.

After Collins left home he eventually ended up in Chicago and started working with tattoo legend, Tatts Thomas. Tatts taught Collins everything. To practice Collins used to pay homeless people in wine to let him tattoo them. He then joined the navy and when he left he settled in Honolulu, Hawaii. This was a popular destination for Soldiers and Sailors. They would visit Honolulu's Hotel Street which was packed with bars, brothels and tattoo parlors and this is where Sailor Jerry built his legacy (Norman Collins 2016). Jerry was one of many legendary tattooists who continually pushed the trade and tried to better the quality of tattoos and Jerry actually invented purple tattooing ink.

Photo of Sailor Jerry:

References:

A brief history of Tattoos . [Online] Available from: http://www.powerverbs.com/tattooyou/history.htm [Accessed 6 December 2016].

In-text citations:

(A brief history of Tattoos)  

Devlin, M. (2013) 10 fascinating facts about Tattoos. [Online] Available from: http://listverse.com/2013/07/23/10-fascinating-facts-about-tattoos/ [Accessed 6 December 2016].

In-text citations:

(Devlin 2013)

Dickens, D. (2016) Community post: Short visual history of tattoo tools. [Online] Available from: https://www.buzzfeed.com/donnad/short-visual-history-of-tattoo-tools?utm_term=.xwRgjv9bm#.qlWOAl57G [Accessed 6 December 2016].

In-text citations:

(Dickens 2016)  

Raul Bustamante (2014) Hori Smoku sailor Jerry: The life of Norman K. Collins. [Online] Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CS9Fuw7ENg [Accessed 6 December 2016].

In-text citations:

(Raul Bustamante 2014)  

Norman Collins (2016) . [Online] Available from: http://sailorjerry.com/en-gb/norman-collins/ [Accessed 6 December 2016].

In-text citations:

(Norman Collins 2016)  

Thinkhouse (2013) Skin deep - A youth culture tattoo documentary. [Online] Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bw7WMKx6WE4 [Accessed 7 December 2016].

In-text citations: (Thinkhouse 2013)

Take me down to tattoo city - Ed Hardy (2011) . [Online] Available from: https://www.bigtattooplanet.com/features/artist-interview/take-me-down-to-tattoo-city-ed-hardy [Accessed 7 December 2016].

In-text citations: (Take me down to tattoo city - Ed Hardy 2011)

The Decisive Moment

For this project I want to represent the process of a tattoo and the love, dedication and passion that should be put into it. I want to try and capture some of the emotions which the tattoo artist has when tattooing and capture several decisive moments. One being point of no return; that moment the needle first hits the skin. The second being the crossroads which the tattoo industry is in at the moment and the third being the decisive moment of the tattooists day; the time he feels most alive. The point in which he has worked so hard for and dedicated so much time to. 

I want to work in black and white as I feel colour sometimes loosing emotion and people can get caught up in colour, sometimes getting distracted from the content of the photo. I want my final four images to make the viewer feel something deep within themselves. The images should portray an artist in their element and show how important tattooing, the tradition and the values are. 

The local tattoo shop will host the shoot as they have granted me access to photograph in the studio and all artists have agreed. I need to make a model/photo release form and get them to sign and also get the people who are being tattooed to sign as they will be in some photos as well. 

low light task

During lecture we were set a task to go and photograph in low light and experiment with LED torches etc. I found this task really enjoyable as it was something i had never done before so really enjoyed the challenge. It was definitely a learning curve as i had to use different settings on the camera and use a tripod which i had never used before - all pretty basic but when you are trying to organise a shoot as well as the camera settings and the tripod it isn't as easy as first thought. All went really well though and I had some cool outcomes. I set the camera to iso of 100, aperture was on f22 and the shutter speed was at about 40  seconds. I want to try my hand at starlight photography over the coming weeks and challenge myself to see if i can produce a quality image. 

Below are the images from the low light task:

low light photography

In todays lecture we looked at low light photography. We looked at examples from the likes of Max Seigal. We then looked into the settings of the camera and how you would shoot in low light. I learnt that to shoot in low light you need to set the camera to bulb and normally use a 20 minute shutter speed, have the iso turn down to around 100 with the aperture being quite low as well. This was really intriguing as I'm used to being told when its dark to turn the iso up and to open up the aperture so it was very interesting to learn these new skills and gain knowledge which i didn't previously have.

examples of Max Seigal's work:

^ these shots were all taken in the pitch black. I find it so fascinating that the camera can find all this extra light over a 20minute to an hour long period (sometimes several hours). 

We then looked at Dennis Smith and his 'balls of light'. It was truly remarkable what the camera can do and how you can trick an audience into thinking a photo has been heavily photoshopped. 

examples of Smith's work: 

^ these shots were all in camera but by Smith moving the entire time the camera doesn't pick him up and only picks up the LED torch he is swinging around. 

Street Photography

Last week we were given a task to go out and do some street photography. I found this to be right up my alley and really did enjoy this task. I love the rush you get when photographing strangers and their reactions to the camera; some ply up to it and others try to ignore or hide themselves. It's always fascinating to see what will happen.

For this task i went out into Worcester city centre and just walked around for about 5 hours. I was looking for the right shot but in low light and a camera which settings had broke this was going to prove difficult.

Below are the photographs which i took that day around 5:30pm.

^These two photos are of a lovely woman and her dog Ellie. unfortunately they are both homeless and when they see me photographing them the woman couldn't stop laughing. I sat and spoke with her for about half an hour and couldn't stop making a fuss of Ellie. It was amazing to meet someone in such high spirits still with a wicked sense of humour even when they are going through such tough times.

^I took this photo when waling behind this bloke, i never seen what his face looked like but he walked so confidently and blowing his cigarette smoke up into the air i couldn't resist a snap.

 ^these two blokes were sat having what it seemed a serious conversations and i couldn't resist the temptation to get a shot of them both. Two men and two characters.

^these two photographs were of a big old dog called Zues. For a big dog he was a right softy. I started snapping away and he was instantly mesmerised

by the sound of the camera shutter and couldn't keep his eyes of me.

^After walking around for a few hours i came across this young lady who was leant up against a wall, i stood from a far and zoomed in, she looked over and said 'you can keep photographing its ok'. I stopped and went up to speak to her and turns out she models part time so that's why she didn't mind me photographing her. As to why she was leaning up against the wall she said she was waiting for a friend. 

Below are shots from about 8:30pm that day.

^these two shots were taken from outside the new restaurant/bar in Worcester town. I stood outside and started to photograph their shop window because i fell in love with the neon sign. The deep red glow it gave off against the blackness that had surrounded the window was mesmerising.

^After photographing from outside i went on in and asked if i could photograph the bar staff working. 

Ethics in Photography

In this lecture we were discussing ethics in photography. We looked at a very controversial photograph taken in 1991 during the Gulf war. The photo showed an Iraqi soldier burnt alive whilst trying to climb out of his vehicle. The photo was taken by Ken Jareke. Jareke was quoted saying “If i don’t photograph this, people like my mom will think war is what they see on TV”. 

Below is the photograph. 

We were asked whether or not we thought that this photo was ethically right to take. Personally i feel that the photograph had a job to do and that job was to document the Gulf War. A lot of bombing happened in the Gulf War and this photo shows us the result of that bombing. I believe this photograph had such an impact on the world because photos like this were not being taken during the Gulf War. The photographer were all under strict rules by the military and only allowed to photograph from certain places. The government and the military wanted people to think that this war was very clean, quick and efficient. When this photo got released and published by one company it showed the nation that this war was any thing but clean and quick. 

Many questions arose arguing that the image was to graphic for people to see but in some situations you need to shock society and this was one of those times. People went from cheering about the bombings to feeling rather disgusted with themselves. 

Ethics within photography is all down to your own opinion and thats the only opinion which counts. If you feel it right to photograph something (if it's legal) then do it. If we tried to adhere to what everyone thinks is ethically right then nothing would get photographed. 

Weird World task

For this task the three areas i chose were:
 - unusual perspective
 - lens foreshortening
 - wide angle

 Unusual Perspective

Lens foreshortening

Wide angle