Skin Art

A first for me: I went to a tattoo convention (and no, I didn't walk out with a tat). Nice opportunity for photos of a subculture that isn't quite that prominent in staid D.C. and lots of willing subjects to photograph (see extras)

I was surprised that the crowd fell neatly into two groupings: a well represented older set a la "Duck Dynasty" (big beards, loose jeans, baseball caps, rather wide mid sections) and a smaller younger set, ripped and lean and rather fierce looking. 

Almost all of them were repeat customers, with large portions of their bodies already covered with tats, acquired over a period of years. Most of them were getting extensive work done and were there today for the preliminary outline of the work (some for 8 or 10 hours) and will be back tomorrow to get the drawings colored in (another 8 to 10 hours). 

Some of the artists seemed rather 'paint by number' types, but others did only custom designs and their work was quite impressive. 

I asked one well inked woman about the pain level of all that needling, and she said it depends on your pain tolerance (mine would be zero for that) and on how close the skin is to bone: the closer to bone (e.g. clavicule, skull, joints), the more intense the pain. 

I thought it was funny that the first booth and huge advert at the entrance of the convention was for tattoo removal services ;)

Thanks to those who provided comments on my 1st video attempt yesterday :)