Smithsonian: Illustrated Man

The article is titled Body of Work, Abigail Tucker the writer written the piece on Chris Rainier who has spent many years taking pictures of the worlds inked. Abigail tells about Rainier's journeys to New Zealand, Japan, Indonesia, West Africa, Greenland, Thailand as well as all over the United States. What is the fascination, you might be asking... Well, as Ansel Adams' assistant, or he was before Adams' passed in 1984; Rainier is a black and white artist that enjoys people over nature and found himself fascinated with tattooing and the history behind it. Not just tattooing either, he has also shot scarification as well as henna which only lasts a couple of weeks but the ritual and beauty are very similar. All over the world one common factor seems to emerge, self identity. Although many groups of people have strong traditional and familial reasons to be tattooed, the images usually stand for some personal trait or accomplishment. Even in America there is a courage trend, you must endure pain after all to have a permanent image etched into the skin. Abigail writes of a visit Rainier had to a West Africa in which he requested to shoot the most beautiful people in this village, here where scarification or deep cuts to the skin of the face and body, the most beautiful people were represented by those with the most scars. It is easy to look at people around us here in America and see people covered in tattoos as somewhat negative. I know I have been judged by my own tattoos, and I only have a few. I have found myself wondering about people who decide to cover their bodies almost completely with them, and why they would want to do that. Perhaps it is good to educate ourselves on the history and popularity, as well as meaning things like this could hold, and we might realize that a tradition as old as tattooing is not just a passing fad or cry for attention, but we as humans have long wished to express ourselves and tell our stories through the art we can never take off. Maybe you are weird for not having one... Just saying!

For more of Rainier's pictures: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/multimedia/photos/?c=y&articleID=103003469&page=1

To see the full article: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Looking-at-the-Worlds-Tattoos.html# 

Resources

Tucker, A. (2010, October).  Body of work.  Smithsonian, 41(6), 56-63.