I'm never going to get a tattoo! I have trypanophobia and I'm not a huge fan of prolonged pain. I also think that the placement of a tattoo is very important as when people get old and wrinkly, so do their tattoos!
But, each to their own! I thought, instead of subjecting myself to a permanently inky future, I would live vicariously through others and take photos of their tattoos and explain to you the reason I took the photo and if there's an interesting story behind it.
1. I'm going to start off with the tattoo of one of my very good friends from school, Vicky. She got her wedding date tattooed on her wrist in Roman numerals.
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| This reads 25/9/2009 for those who can't read Roman! |
2. This is one of the tattoos of my friend, Simone. Her son passed away very young and, in his memory, she had this tattoo done for him. The date reads 06-02-12 which is the date he passed away.
3 & 4. The next two tattoos are of my colleague, Hayley. The first is the tattoo on her back which is a tiger cub with a butterfly. I thought it was really cute.
The second tattoo is her granddad's army number.
5. My friend Darren decided to have these on his wrist. When I asked him why he chose these, he replied: "I have no idea. I got them because I thought why not and I thought they were different. I just wanted a tat". He was sober...apparently.
6. I used to work at a pub called The Crown near where I live for extra dosh! I saw this one particular customer and clocked his tattoo - I think he thought I was strange when I asked to take a photo of his tattoo. The detail is very intricate.
7. The next tattoo strikes me as pretty old school. My friend Charles decided to have "Chas" on his arm within a sword. I have to say I've never heard anyone call him Chaz. We call him Charlie at Radio Northwick Park.
8. So, I managed to corner another customer at The Crown. It depicts the battle of good versus evil.
9. The next tattoo is from my talented musician friend, Ben Miller. On his 21st birthday, he and four other friends got a tattoo of a puzzle piece. After university, everyone went their separate ways and the puzzle pieces symbolise that they are all still connected wherever they are.
10. My friend Ricky, from karaoke (does a great rendition of Ziggy Stardust) has this fab tattoo on the back of his neck. It's a treble clef with a Joe Meek microphone (his favourite microphone) and Ricky's eyes singing into it. There are also a few stars within the tattoo which represents that he is a Pagan. Ricky was in a band and they all got treble clefs on the backs of their necks but Ricky had the larger one as he was the front man! Ricky, as you can see, is very much into music and a firm believer in his religion.
11. My lovely friend, Marion, has this very small and very pretty "Circle of Life" which has some blips in it as life never runs smoothly.
12. The next tattoo photo was taken when I went on the Gay Pride march last year. It depicts a Star of David (representing Judaism) and the rainbow colours (depicting homosexuality) - it's OK to be Jewish AND Gay!
13. I went to an organised summer picnic on Primrose Hill last year. When men take their tops off on a hot day, you tend to see unexpected tattoos. This one is on the arm of my friend Suzie's brother. I believe it's supposed to be a phoenix from the flames but unfortunately I can't remember the significance of it.
14. I went to the album launch of JonPaul Palombo in September. I was drawn to the tattoo on his drummer, Danny Makwana's, arm. It's of a snare drum with drumsticks piercing through it.
15. I did a gig on the same night as the lovely Andy Robbins. He had this great tattoo of his youngest son's name - why aren't many people called Aubrey these days? I thought that it was a pretty retro name! Also the combination of the upside down treble clef and the bass clef in the shape of a heart was seriously classy!
16. I went to a karaoke night in Essex with a couple of mates of mine. This is the tattoo of one of their mates, Phil. It's of a Japanese Anime game
called 'Devil May Cry'. The character's name is Dante. He is half demon
and half human. He fights for the good even though there is evil inside
him. Phil said, "I got him tattooed on my arm because it reminds me that no
matter how much darkness I have inside me, I always have the strength to
fight for the right side, plus, Devil May Cry is one of my all time
favourite games".
17. The last one of this batch is from a guy called Damien who I met at my friend Selly's 30th birthday. It may look like a circle around a triangle but, in fact, it's an 11 sided shape (hendecagon) which represents the 11 members
of his family including himself - two parents, two step-parents, two grandparents, five
kids including Damien (two brothers, a step-brother and step sister). The
triangle within the hendecagon represents the unity between Damien and his two brothers.
If you have an interesting tattoo that I should be taking a photo of, please comment below.
