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Tattoo

Horishi / Tattoo Artist Horikazu. Asakusa, Tokyo, Japan. Oct. 29, 2024. Photograph by Cory Lum/ 2024
© Cory Lum

The intricate, clandestine art of Japan’s traditional tattoos

Irezumi — Having emerged during the Edo Period centuries ago, inking skin has long been associated the country’s working class, and particularly Yakuza. A new book by Manami Okazaki explores the history and deep meaning of the practice, as well as the horishi who dedicate their lives to the needle.

  • Culture
  • Isaac Muk
Yellow brick tattoo shop with black signage, large windows displaying artwork, and neon "OPEN" sign in storefront.

A Manchester laser studio is removing Harry Potter tattoos for half-price

Deletrius — They claimed that the franchise had “lost its magic” following author JK Rowling’s recent statements on trans rights.

  • Activism
  • Ella Glossop
Neon-lit studio with two people in red shirts working on an unidentified task.

Inside Kashmir’s growing youth tattoo movement

Catharsis in ink — Despite being forbidden under Islam, a wave of tattoo shops are springing up in India-administered Kashmir. Saqib Mugloo spoke to those on both ends of the needle.

  • Youth Culture
  • Saqib Mugloo

Tattoo legend Ed Hardy reflects on a life in ink

Deeper than Skin — As he opens his first-ever museum retrospective this month, we speak to the artist who helped take tattoos mainstream.

  • Art
  • Miss Rosen

How a tattoo flash day is revolutionising the industry

Still not asking for it — Still Not Asking For It is a US-based event celebrating women and survivors. Artist Liv Wynter explains why her studio Red Point Tattoo – led by Claudia de Sabe – is bringing it to the UK.

  • Activism
  • Liv Wynter

The extraordinary rise of Japan's unlikely tattoo hero

The art of intimacy — Horiren 1st is one of the world’s most sought-after tattoo artists, celebrated for keeping the ancient Japanese method of Tebori alive. But in a country where body art is considered taboo, her journey to the top hasn’t been easy.

  • Culture
  • Michael Magers

The architect who threw it all away to become a tattoo artist

How to make it on your own — Silvia Castro Pérez pursued her dream job as an architect in Spain until it felt like a creative dead-end. Then she moved to Berlin and taught herself how to tattoo, opening up a new world of creative possibility.

  • Culture
  • Alex King

Dark, twisted rituals: The artist using human skin as his canvas

Body of Reverbs — Oozing fetishism and violence, Michele Servadio’s strange tattooing rituals are being performed around the world; creating spectacles that fuse art, music, and exorcism.

  • Art
  • Jonas Henmo

The Virginia tattoo artist transforming lives by inking over scars

Tat for Tit — Amy Black’s tattoo parlour in Richmond, Virginia helps clients with scars from illness or surgery reclaim their bodies with needles and ink.

  • Culture
  • Ryan Mcmeekin

Why I'm giving my customers Planned Parenthood themed tattoos

From Where I Stand — One Brooklyn-based, immigrant-run tattoo parlour is transforming bodies into spaces of protest for freedom of choice in the age of Trump, raising cold hard cash for Planned Parenthood in the process.

  • Activism
  • Burak Moreno, Fleur Noire Tattoo Parlour

A brief history of the British tattoo

How we got inked — From high class beginnings to the myths of inked up criminals, as a new exhibition opens in Cornwall, tattoo historian Dr Matt Lodder plots out a history of British body art.

  • Culture
  • Michael Segalov

Under the skin of Britain's facial tattoo community

The people beneath the ink — Mark Leaver's photography project looks at facial tattoos; a misunderstood and stereotyped group, already a niche within a subculture.

  • Photography
  • Alex King

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