This tattoo reads happiness in chinese. this represents an emotion that she constantly wants to live within and has is greatful that she has been able to for most of her life.

This is a tattoo of her mothers name in Japanese. her mother has been the strongest influence in her life and she thought that a good way to pay tribute to her was through a tattoo, she also wanted to keep her as close as possible, howelse but on her skin?

This tattoo has no particular meaning, she just liked the design and decided to get it.

 

This tattoo was inspired by his faith and family, which is written on the scroll at the bottom of the tattoo.the praying hands binds the two together and is set to symbolise a desire to have the love of the lord cover his family as well as pray for never ending love amongst his family members.

This tattoo was obviously inspired by tupac who he feels has a large influence on his life as he is a great fan of the deceased rapper. the wrappers lyrics are some of his favourite and he can relate to and live by some of the quotes from the rapper. also, "he is just Gangsta! "

This tatoo reads Ambition in portuguese. her choice of this tattoo was to portray one of her biggest strengths and also to constantly remind her to stay on track. she got this tattoo in her final year of university, right before she begun her masters course.

She believes that everything is possible as long as you have faith. this tattoo was a symbol of her belief that as long as you have faith in something, no matter what it is, you shall  be encouraged to work towards it or to overcome it. this is very closely linked to her religious views and that explains the presence of the crucifix

this tattoo reads "the lord is my light and my salvation,whom i shall be afraid. Psalms 27 v1-14. he got it to express himself. after an ugly break up and getting closer to his dreams of gradating, he wanted something that represented the fact that he cold be fine as long as he had God. the tattoo is in Hebrew because that was the language in the biblical times and hence felt like it carried more meaning.

This tattoo represents her and her siblings. her being the biggest as she is the oldest, her sister the middle sized one to represent her sister and a small one for her brother as he is the youngest.

This is a version of a Celtic love note,it is special because it has no beginning or end. it depicts two strands intertwined and represents the union of two souls. her and her boyfriends got matching ones , even if they had been broken up for a few years at the time as a symbol of their eternal love for each other.

the tattoo symbolizes a fantasy world, where there are no limits. he isn't limited to wealth, health or stature. one that he knows he will never live to see, but believes it will exist so he holds it close.

She decided to get her tattoo at the age of 16 when being a rebel was a good idea. Her boyfriend at her went to a dodgy place in plumstead to get matching tattoos and hide them from their parents. the lady doing their tattoos was smoking crack behind the desk and then use a broken gun that she had to jimmy in order for it to work. they went ahead with the adventure nevertheless and it came out straight and pretty blotchy. She also took this as a lesson learned.

He got this tattoo for a CHOC tattooathon which raises money for children with cancer.

He drew the original image a while before he got the tattoo.Gyspies represent independence and a travellers life. He got this at a stage of his life where he was defining himself independently. the blindfold also represents a more personal aspect of his life

This tattoo was done on two seperate occasions, the diamond came first and the skull and script followed. as with other tattoos, there was no deep meaning behind the diamond. Visually it appealled to him and the connotations he derived are an afterthought.

The script features the words "Dont sleep." The meaning behind this was not to waste time putting things off and waiting for another day. It was an answer to solving his procrastination. It wasnt designed for him but done as an illustration by an artist who he was fond of. This was the same guy that designed the tattoo.

OVERCOME: In his life, he has had to overcome many different events regarding his familyand members of it. in 2006, his brother and him were racing motorbikes and he had an accident where he broke his ack and was confined to a wheelchair for life. he got this tattoo for him but also as a reminder to himself of the numerous obstacles he has had  to go through in his life.

This tattoo triangle tattoo represents the three most important aspects of his life... Love, Family and intellect.  the triangle is also represents the strongest and sturdiest shape.















                                                                                                                     

                                                                                                                                                                  

This tattoo was done for his grandfather when he was diagnosed with cancer. this was a reminder that whatever situation we are faced with at the moment, things get better and "this too shall pass" 

ink-troduction

As the years have gone by, almost every body is rocking a tattoo,  look at Vega for instance every second or third person has a tattoo whether you can see it or not. but then again, we cant really use this bunch of creatives as a control group.

tattoos are a form of body modification and have been practiced for centuries. their popularity has however only sprouted of late. In some tribes, tattoos are also a symbol of their culture. For example, the Fulani people of Nigeria are synonymous with facial tattoos as a form of their tradition.

in the new age, it is used as a symbol to stand for what one believes in. most tattoos bare a significant meaning to the bearer as there is a process involved before getting the tattoo, this includes saving up for it (student life style), deciding where you want to place the tattoo and most importantly deciding what you want to put where.

Cosmetic tattoos have also recently (not so recent) been introduced on to the market and the ladies or gents can get permanent eyeliner, saves us from setting our alarms earlier to wear our faces and jump back to bed before our partners wake up, YAY!!

with time, they have also become less of a taboo as they were believed to defy christian beliefs and symbolize some sort of thug-ism or relation to a gang. Now we can spot parents, grand parents, business men and teenagers alike rocking their ink. the key is to keep it hidden or small depending on your profession, we cant run with the freedom as yet....

This blog looks at different peoples tattoos and their significance to the individual, so wheres your ink, piece, work and whatever other terms are attached to the tatts these days.........