Customizing the Body (PDF file) - Print My Tattoo

172 Epilogue 2008
known as a center of tattooing culture), clients want full sets of
sleeves in the traditional Japanese style. Before “Miami Ink,”
many of these tattooees were getting their educations from tattoo
magazines.
Fifteen years ago tattoo magazines were still a subcultural phenomenon.
Those who knew about artistic tattooing read Tattootime
when it came out, provided they could find it. The only
readily available sources of information were the biker magazines
that periodically covered tattooing. Shortly after the first edition
of Customizing the Body was published, however, several magazines
appeared that changed things dramatically. Outlaw Biker
Tattoo Review, Skin Art, and International Tattoo Art each had a
profound impact on the tattoo world by placing knowledgeable
tattoo artists on their editorial staffs and focusing on showing
cutting-edge tattoo art. Now there were magazines that presented
strikingly original tattoos and gave credit to and featured interviews
with the artists who did them. These same magazines sent
correspondents to cover tattoo conventions and made it a point to
emphasize the importance of custom tattooing over conventional
pieces chosen from the flash sheets on the walls of commercial
street shops. Their readers saw that artistically trained, talented,
and experienced tattoo artists were producing artistic products
whose beauty and complexity rivaled works in other, more accepted,
media.
Success often yields cheap imitation, and it was not long before
the number of tattoo magazines had expanded beyond what the
market could reasonably bear, with Easyrider (publishing three
tattoo periodicals plus special issues), Outlaw Biker (publishing
two magazines plus special issues), International Tattoo Art, and
Skin & Ink all competing for the same market. This glut of tattoo
magazines led to a marked decline in standards. While many of
these magazines are still published, established and reputable
artists are now less likely to submit photos of their work with any
frequency. The result is that the publications tend to present the
work of lesser practitioners and increasingly to emphasize coverage
of the parties held at tattoo conventions.
When Customizing the Body was first published there was one
annual convention in the United States run by the National
Tattoo Association, and it operated much the same way as any
professional trade convention. It met in a different city each year