Tattoos have always been held in a poor light by higher-ups in society. It is almost ingrained in American culture that if one gets a tattoo, they immediately lose many opportunities in getting jobs. People have different reasons for getting tattoos, but generally, those that do have tattoos are not usually bad people as society makes them out to be. In a single tattoo parlor, there was not a single sign of anything relating to criminal behavior. Even if it was in an unsafe part of town.

A Different Kind of Studio

Art2Ink is a tattoo parlor located in East Harlem that is on a somewhat busy and large street. The parlor has some recognition, it was featured on the show called Black Ink Crew on VH1. The parlor also has twenty-five thousand followers on Instagram ([@Art2ink], 2017), and each tattoo artist has between eight thousand to twenty-nine thousand followers on Instagram. The parlor looks like any other tattoo parlor from the outside, but once I walked in, I could see the artists passion in more than just tattoos.

Inside the parlor, the walls were surrounded by art pieces and even an oversized tattoo machine hanged on the wall. I was a bit intimidated walking in since I had never gone to a tattoo parlor previously and thought that I would get looked at differently I would be compared to everyone. Tattoos are a bit taboo in society, but lately, millennials have been expressing themselves more through them, they do consider the location of the tattoo for employment reasons (Foltz, 2014, p.589). I wanted to see if there was any truth to the idea that usually people who are tattooed are social outcasts or even criminals. I have a friend named Jonathan who was getting a tattoo so I tagged along with him and he supported and reassured me that I would not be judged there. The tattoo artist that was going to work on my friend came a little late and immediately started playing an artist I recognized and that immediately calmed me down since I realized that we were probably not that different. His name was Naeem and he wore a green hat that said “energy” and a neon green sweater. He told my friend to wait while he sets up for the tattoo.

We waited for around 20 minutes so I looked around the shop in the meantime. The shop was extremely small. I found that the tattoo parlor had two beta fish in a small tank with a divider in between them. The art around the tattoo parlor ranged from paintings to sculpture to even a pair of rollerskates. The themes of the art ranged from sex to anime. Towards the back of parlor was a door that led to an area outside that had art on the walls and wooden seats and tables. I only got a quick glimpse of the back area because the Naeem was ready to start tattooing.

As my friend sat down, I asked him how much does the pain of tattoos usually hurt. He told me it’s a continuous and annoying pain. I did not really believe him since he is the kind of person to walk away after getting hit by a car, but when the tattooing actually started, I could tell that this tattoo on his thigh was going to be much more painful than the one on his shoulder. Naeem had headphones in while working on Jonathan so I decided to ask someone else there in the meantime.

Anime Fan in an Unexpected Place

The first person I approached was a man called Mike. He wore a grey sweater with a white shirt and black pants and did not have a visible tattoo’s. Mike told me he never saw himself as becoming a tattoo artist since he wanted to be an architect or a graphic designer. He became one because college was becoming too expensive and tattooing “found him”. The reason he does not have any visible tattoos (under his elbow) is because he wants to become a teacher when he gets older. Because of his lack of visible tattoos, people expect him to be bad at his job and he feels like he is being wrongfully judged. This came as a surprise for me because of how respectful everyone was towards me so far while in the shop, but I assume that every subcultures have a fair share of problematic people. Mike’s work includes small cover-ups to large portraits of people, but his favorite pieces are new school tattoos, more specifically of anime. While I was talking to him, his client was also providing me information about herself as well.

Fellow Photographer

Her name was Ashley and she was getting a tattoo of flowers on her arm. All her tattoos have a different meaning. The one she was getting in the moment represented her mother, and her first tattoo was a camera since that is her major in college and loves it. I was happy to find someone else that enjoys photography.She has seven in total and had them since she was eighteen, she likes any style that generally catches her eye. What she told me that interested me the most was how that she has never been judged for her tattoos, but if she was “she wouldn’t pay mind to it since it’s her body” since it something that I need help with in life.

The Tattoo Machine is Mightier Than the Sword

I went back to see how Jonathan’s tattoo was coming along only to see him with an AirPod in his ear to take his mind off the pain. Naeem took off his headphones and I asked him what he used to tattoo. He told me that it was simply called a tattoo machine and I felt stupid for thinking it would be named something more complicated. He told me that the machines use cartilage needles and there were two types of tattoo machines, one called a rotary and another one called a coil. Rotary’s use a motor and were generally sold for commercial use. Coil’s on the other hand, uses an electromagnetic system and was created in prison. This made me slightly uncomfortable because of the connotations associated with tattoos, most likely, started or grew in popularity because of coil tattoo machines. Naeem also uses the rotary tattoo machine since its easier on his clients, although Jonathan did not believe him.

I asked him what got him into tattooing and he told me he was a “broke artist so fuck it” and started tattooing and has been doing it for eleven years. He has over one hundred hours of tattoos on his body, which was pretty surprising because earlier in the day he said that he had a low pain tolerance for tattoos as well. I asked him if all his tattoos have meaning and he said that they do, but if they don’t, he gives them meaning. His favorite type of tattoos are portraits since they have more detail than other tattoos, but what he usually works on are women who either want him to write that woman’s significant other name or to get a name covered up. The juxtaposition was pretty ironic. Naeem also did not care if he was judged for his tattoos, but he did say that when he went to Japan, he was often looked at. I then went to talk to the final tattoo artist that was working in the store.

Inspiration

He was the only tattoo artist in the store that I did not talk to previously so I was a bit skittish when approaching him. He was very focused on his brand, he told me his name was Young Pheonix and even showed me the plaque on the wall to prove it and how to spell it. When I asked him what got him into tattooing and he told me that when he was a kid, a drug dealer came up to him from behind with a gun and told him to become a tattoo artist. As I was writing down my notes, I realized he was joking and erased everything, but I appreciated the friendly tone. Mr. Pheonix then told me that he was always into drawing so he started doing it on himself when he was seventeen, up until the present day. When he was young, he was looked at differently because of all the tattoos he had, but as he’s matured people have realized that it is just a form of expression and society does not care as long as your personality is fine and approachable. Young Pheonix said that he was well known for his creativity so when working on a tattoo, he always tries to put in his artistic spin, no matter the size of his tattoo. His clients also mainly consist of women that want large, time-consuming tattoo’s. The tattoo that he remembers the most is one that he worked on for the mother of a child that was killed in a bus shooting. His story and style inspired me enough to consider getting a tattoo, which I happily reported back to Jonathan and Naeem.

To Be is Not the Way to Be

While Jonathan’s tattoo was being finished up, I had time to reflect on all the different stories that I had heard so far. All these people in the store seemed like good people and they all had a different story to tell, but because of their occupation, they have been unfairly branded in society as bad or scary people. The stereotypes were more imprinted onto me because of my household, which is very traditional and is very much against tattoos and piercings. After leaving the tattoo parlor, I realized that everyone there was a human being that just wanted to express themselves through tattoos, which made me want to get a tattoo even more.