Books
Japan’s Tattoo Art, in Classic Woodblock Prints
Ukiyo-e artists produced woodblock prints incorporating depictions of tattooed bodies that told personal stories of their own.
tattoos
Art
The History of Tattoos in New York, from Bowery Sensation to Banned Art
The New-York Historical Society explores three centuries of Gotham's relationship to the tattoo through vintage images, electric pens, and live demonstrations.
In Brief
Ancient Obsidian Tools Were Used for Tattooing, Archaeologists Find
You may find stick-and-pokes an intense form of tattooing, but the use of needles, safety pins, or other common sharp objects doesn't look quite so rough when you consider that ancient Melanesians inked themselves with volcanic glass.
News
The World's Oldest Tattoos Are on the Weathered Skin of an Alpine Ice Mummy
When hikers in the Alps stumbled upon the mummy known as Ötzi the Iceman along the Austrian–Italian border in 1991, the body was so well preserved that they feared they'd discovered the corpse of a fellow mountaineer.
In Brief
"Tech Tats" Turn Wearable Devices into Cyberpunk Body Art
Since the beginning of the Quantified Self Movement, designers have struggled to create wearable tech that people actually want to wear, and that doesn't make the wearer look like a raging Glasshole.
Art
New Service Will Preserve and Frame Your Tattoos After You Die
You may now bequeath your tattoos to your loved ones to frame and display, just like any other work of art that you value or that may be a family heirloom.
In Brief
Apple Watches Won't Work on Tattooed Wrists
The new Apple Watch is the pinnacle of technological achievement.
News
Why You Can't Show Your Tattoos without Permission in Video Games
What are the intellectual property rights of tattoo artists? Video games that depict athletes are testing the limits.
Art
A World History in Skin, Needles, and Ink
PARIS — As the world map that leads the new tattooing exhibition at the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris plots out, the art of skin alteration has roots in every continent, from the Iroquois in North America to the Samoans in the South Pacific.
Books
The 19th-Century Story of the Wonderful Tattooed Man
The story of how a boy from Providence, Rhode Island, became "the most wonderful tattooed man ever known in the civilized world" involves menacing sailors and voyages across the sea, and was recently digitized so that we can all read this tale of the 19th century.
Books
Grafting Graffiti Style Onto Skin
Graffiti and tattoos seem like total opposities. One is ephemeral, lasting only until it's painted over by the city or other writers, the other is forever, or at least unless you decide to rip the ink back out of your skin. Yet there's been abundant crossover in the aesthetic style, but what's more
Books
A Photographer Looks at London's Tattoos
Photographer and photojournalist Alex MacNaughton’s latest book titled London Tattoos, is a lighthearted book of portraits featuring Londoners and their tattoos. Shooting his portraits in the studio against a neutral white background, reminiscent of white gallery walls, MacNaughton treats tattoos, a