Column by Dirk-Boris Rödel
"Hands, neck and face only when there's no room elsewhere!" - This is the attitude of many tattoo artists towards tattoos on parts of the body that are difficult or impossible to cover up.
I'm always a bit torn about that.
On the one hand, the tattoo artist naturally fulfills a certain responsibility towards young customers in particular, who may not yet be able to fully assess how tattoos on the neck and hands can affect job and apartment hunting, for example. Or how annoying and sometimes stressful it can be to be constantly asked about your tattoos. It is not for nothing that hand tattoos are also called "job stoppers", even today, when visible tattoos are not uncommon in professions where they would have been unthinkable twenty years ago. Even in private life or, for example, in conflicts with the law, permanently visible tattoos can still trigger prejudices in others and have an unfavorable effect - that's a shame and stupid, but it's also the social reality in which we live. And if tattoo artists also feel a responsibility for their customers and sensitize them to this, that's a good thing.
On the other hand, this restriction of tattoo artists to only tattoo the neck, face and hands of "experienced" customers could also be seen as a certain paternalism.
When I got my first tattoo at the end of the 80s, every tattoo, no matter what part of the body, no matter how big and no matter what motif, was an absolute rebellion, it made you an outsider, an outlaw, a rebel at the touch of a button. And rebelling, against whatever, is simply important in the process of growing up and has always been an essential part of modern Western tattooing. Today, however, tattoos are so common that you can no longer win a flower pot with a dragon on your arm in terms of rebellion - what used to be outrageous no longer raises an eyebrow.
So what else can young people do today if they want to rebel? The only social "don'ts" left are neck and hand tattoos. And these are often denied to them by those who, in their youth, only needed a howling wolf on their shoulder blade to acquire a bad boy image.
Sure, a neck tattoo at 18 can be a pretty stupid decision. But maybe there is such a thing as a right to make stupid decisions?
What I definitely don't accept at all, however, is this nonsense that you have to "earn" tattoos on your neck, hands and face. I can understand why a tattoo artist explains to customers the disadvantages of such tattoos, that he might not want to get them because he doesn't want to be responsible for the customer not getting an apprenticeship later on.
But this idea that the tattoo artist presumes to decide who "deserves" a neck tattoo, that he only grants the favor of such a tattoo to those who have already proven their seriousness with fuffzich other tattoos - no, really, how arrogant and presumptuous can you be! Perhaps it simply corresponds to a customer's personal aesthetic to only have the backs of their hands tattooed and they don't like skin tattoos on other parts of their body? How can you judge that? I think it's a bit arrogant when tattoo artists become the judge of what others can and can't have.
But that's just my own humble opinion and luckily there's enough choice of tattoo artists and studios today so that everyone has the chance to get the tattoo they want and that's important to them.
Text: Dirk-Boris Rödel
Graphic: Jonas Bachmann
Column by Dirk-Boris Rödel
"Hands, neck and face only when there's no room elsewhere!" - This is the attitude of many tattoo artists towards tattoos on parts of the body that are difficult or impossible to cover up.
I'm always a bit torn about that.
On the one hand, the tattoo artist naturally fulfills a certain responsibility towards young customers in particular, who may not yet be able to fully assess how tattoos on the neck and hands can affect job and apartment hunting, for example. Or how annoying and sometimes stressful it can be to be constantly asked about your tattoos. It is not for nothing that hand tattoos are also called "job stoppers", even today, when visible tattoos are not uncommon in professions where they would have been unthinkable twenty years ago. Even in private life or, for example, in conflicts with the law, permanently visible tattoos can still trigger prejudices in others and have an unfavorable effect - that's a shame and stupid, but it's also the social reality in which we live. And if tattoo artists also feel a responsibility for their customers and sensitize them to this, that's a good thing.
On the other hand, this restriction of tattoo artists to only tattoo the neck, face and hands of "experienced" customers could also be seen as a certain paternalism.
When I got my first tattoo at the end of the 80s, every tattoo, no matter what part of the body, no matter how big and no matter what motif, was an absolute rebellion, it made you an outsider, an outlaw, a rebel at the touch of a button. And rebelling, against whatever, is simply important in the process of growing up and has always been an essential part of modern Western tattooing. Today, however, tattoos are so common that you can no longer win a flower pot with a dragon on your arm in terms of rebellion - what used to be outrageous no longer raises an eyebrow.
So what else can young people do today if they want to rebel? The only social "don'ts" left are neck and hand tattoos. And these are often denied to them by those who, in their youth, only needed a howling wolf on their shoulder blade to acquire a bad boy image.
Sure, a neck tattoo at 18 can be a pretty stupid decision. But maybe there is such a thing as a right to make stupid decisions?
What I definitely don't accept at all, however, is this nonsense that you have to "earn" tattoos on your neck, hands and face. I can understand why a tattoo artist explains to customers the disadvantages of such tattoos, that he might not want to get them because he doesn't want to be responsible for the customer not getting an apprenticeship later on.
But this idea that the tattoo artist presumes to decide who "deserves" a neck tattoo, that he only grants the favor of such a tattoo to those who have already proven their seriousness with fuffzich other tattoos - no, really, how arrogant and presumptuous can you be! Perhaps it simply corresponds to a customer's personal aesthetic to only have the backs of their hands tattooed and they don't like skin tattoos on other parts of their body? How can you judge that? I think it's a bit arrogant when tattoo artists become the judge of what others can and can't have.
But that's just my own humble opinion and luckily there's enough choice of tattoo artists and studios today so that everyone has the chance to get the tattoo they want and that's important to them.
Text: Dirk-Boris Rödel
Graphic: Jonas Bachmann
30.06.-02.07. Summer Tattoo Festival No.8
05.08.-06.08. Garda Tattoo Event
18.08.-20.08. Tunjo Tattoo Fest
15.09.-17.09. Millennium Tattoo Show No.6
15.09.-17.09. Cagliari Tattoo Convention No.13
22.09.-24-09. Bergamo Tattoo Expo
22.09.-24-09. Torino Tattoo Convention No.12
29.09.- 01.10. Urban Land Tattoo Expo Roma
29.09.-01.10. Mima Tattoo Convention No.5
13.10.-15.10. Genova Tattoo Convention No.16
14.10.-15.10. Roma Tattoo Expo No.23
20.10.-22-10. Ferrara Tattoo Convention No.5
27.10.-29.10. Passion Art Tattoo Convention Bolzano No.16
04.11.-05.11. Chiuduno Tattoo Weekend
10.11.-12.11. Ancona Tattoo Expo No.2
10.11.-12.11. Palermo Tattoo Convention No.9
11.11.-12.11. Trieste International Tattoo Expo No.14
11.11.-12.11. Catania Tattoo Convention No.5
01.12.-03.12. Florence Tattoo Convention No.13
08.12.-10.12. East Coast Tattoo Convention No.17
16.06.-18.06. Anime Tattoo Expo, Fire de Barcelona
30.06.-02.07.23 Asturias Tattoo Expo No.8
08.09.-10.09. Ibiza Tattoo Convention No.4
15.09.-17.09. Gaia Tattoo Expo No.3
06.10.-08.10. Barcelona Tattoo Expo No.26
27.10.-29.10. Alicante Tattoo Convention No.5
03.11.-05.11. Pamplona Tattoo Expo No.5
08.07.-09.07 . Bristol Tattoo Convention
22.07.-23.07 . Ink And Oil Tattoo Convention
29.07.-30.07. Great Western Tattoo Show
19.08.-20.08. Cornwall’s Tattoo Convention
19.08.-20.08. Tatcon Blackpool
26.08.-27.08. Big London Tattoo Show
16.09.-17.09. Buckley Ink Tattoo Convention
23.09.-24.09. Sheffield Tattoo Festival
30.09.-01.10. Tattoo Trojans Doncaster Tattoo Convention
07.10.-08.10. Locked up Tattoo Convention
14.10.-15.10. Halloween Tattoo Bash
11.11.-12.11. Wrexham Tattoo Show
02.09.-03.09. Tattoonika
14.10.-15.10. Wildstyle & Tattoo Messe Kapfenburg
21.10.-22.10. Wildstyle & Tattoo Messe Linz
28.10.-29.10. Wildstyle & Tattoo Messe Salzburg
01.09.-03.09. Lugano TI – Tattoo Convention No.24
16.06.-18.06. Epinal Tattoo Show
17.06.-18.06. Asian Festival Tattoo Show
01.07.-02.07. Caen Tattoo Show
08.07.-09.07. Rock Tattoo Spirit
15.07.-16.07. Sermaize Tattoo Convention
19.08.-20.08. Deauvile Tattoo Festival
01.09.-03.09. Montauban Tattoo Show
01.09.-03.09. Ink’n’Roll Chateauroux Tattoo Festival
02.09.-03.09. The 70’s Tattoo Show
09.09.-10.09. Jura Ink Park
09.09.-10.09. Dentelle Ink Alençon
09.09.-10.09. Champagne Tattoo Event
09.09.-10.09. Limoges Tattoo Show
15.09.-17.09. Univers Tattoo Convention
16.09.-17.09. Circus Tattoo Show
16.09.-17.09. Kustom Festival & Tattoo
16.09.-17.09. Perpignan Tattoo Convention
22.09.-24.09. Nantes Tattoo Convention
23.09.-24.09. Isere Tattoo Show
23.09.-24.09. Girl Ink Tattoo Show
30.09.-01.10. Perigueux Tattoo Expo
30.09.-01.10. La Maison d’Encre
07.10.-08.10. Convention Tatouage de Bourges
14.10.-15.10. Poitiers Tattoo Convention
13.10.-15.10. Chalons en Champagne Tattoo Show
20.10.-22.10. Evian Tattoo Show
21.10.-22.10. Biarritz Tattoo Fest
21.10.-22.10. Fabulous Tiki Weekend
21.10.-22.10. Bourg-en-Bresse Tattoo Convention
21.10.-22.10. The Team Miss P’ink Tattoo
28.10.-29.10. Cahors Tattoo & Geek
03.11.-05.11. Sugar Ink Tattoo Convention
11.11.-12.11. Love Tattoo Festival
18.11.-20.11. Potopistons Tattoo Convention
18.11.-19.11. Salon du Tatouage Clermont
25.11.-26.11. Troyes Tattoo Convention
01.12.-03.12. Merry Christmas Tattoo Show
02.12.-03.12. Nohell Tattoo Show
02.12.-03.12. Tarn Tattoo Convention
22.09.-24.09. Hans Christian Andersen Tattoo Convention No.6
27.10.-29.10. Nordic Ink Festival No.12
16.09.-17.09. Bulgaria Tattoo Expo VIII
25.08.-27-08. INKJUNX
02.09.-03.09. Craboutcha Tattoo Festival
02.09.-03.09. Tox Cit’Ink No.10
23.09.-24.09. Brügge Tattoo Convention No.2
07.10.-08.10. Skin Art Expo No.14
14.10.-15-10. Mons Tattoo Convention No.5
28.10.-29.10. Hasselt Tattoo Convention No.2
28.10.-29.10. Kempen Tattoo Convention No.3
10.11.-12.11. Brüssel Tattoo Convention No.13
16.09.-17.09. Haná Tattoo Expo No.5
18.11. Pardubice Tattoo Event No.8
28.07.-30.07. Maiden City Tattoo Convention No.11
29.09.-01.10. Dublin Tattoo Convention No.22
21.10.-22-10. Wild Atlantic Tattoo Show
25.08.-27.08. Baltic Tattoo Convention No.5 ^
21.10.-23.10. Vianden Tattoo Convention No.23
15.07.-16.07. Ink Panthers Tattoo Convention No.2
15.09.-17.09. Amsterdam Tattoo Convention No.17
23.09.-24.09. Ink and Cutz Tattoo Convention No.6
01.07.-02.07. Warsaw Tattoo Convention No.10
02.09.-03.09. Katowice Tattoo Konwent
16.09.-17.09. Opole Tattoo Expo No.5
14.10.-15.10. Hagen Tattoo Convention
25.11.-26.11. Lodz Tattoo Konwent
05.10.-08.10. Lisbon Tattoo Rock Fest No.16
01.09.-03.09. Constanta Tattoo Convention
20.10.-22-10. Bucharest Tattoo Convention No.11
06.08.-13.08. Ink Needle Tattoo Convention
25.08.-26.08. Minicon
01.09.-03.09. Stockholm Ink Bash Tattoo Convention No.26
