another

seetoh. note his hand has an erased tattoo. tattoos are for life, but his ex-gf's parents "rejected" him becos of the tattoo, and he went to burn it off to be with her. it was painful lah, and his hand now looks like ice cream. later the girl left him i guess that's even more painful. moral of the story is" 1. how society views tattoo back then, 2. how one is willing to transcend pain and ugly scars to be with someone and 3. yet in the end things are not destined to be and it turned out to be for nothing

another very painful thing is that after reaching home i realised the prev user of the cam (my dad) set the resolution to S. SMALL. now, dunno if this can be used for a decent s12R print :( :( :( :( hope photoshop's "bicubic sharper" resampling will work wonders :(

his back actually has a "人心难测" cos his boss of his gang last time, when something happened, betrayed him to the police. later he went to tattoo that. i took a shot of his back...


but since the resolution is at S i dun think it will work well cos the words will be less well defined :(

ouch.....................

updates

Hi guys,

Is there any update regarding the progress of our project? I understand that some of us have problems getting people to shoot.

I feel that Yikang's shots are very very good as they help provide an insight into the motivational factors of people who got tattoos in the past. With this in mind, is it possible that we touch a little on the motivations of people who have gotten their tattoos lately then? I may arrange to shoot a friend who tattooed her forearm just a month ago.

Regards,
geraldtay

Topic justification

Backdated Post.

We've chosen to do tattoos social documentary.

It is not a tattoo galore per se, but rather, it explores the different motivations behind getting a tattoo in an attempt to discover the culture of tattooing in Singapore.

People get tattoos for various reasons; some to look trendy, sensual, sexy; others for religious or other symbolic meanings.

The motivations are varied, and that is the beauty and essence of our documentary project. We do not try to blur their distinctions or make them more similar to one another.

The motivation may not be the same, but all those who willingly go through the pain of the needle in the process of getting tattoos share a common trait:

That they all have strong emotional attachment towards the particular tattoo design (for its symbolic reasons etc.). This attachment in turn translates to a form of determination to want to go under the needle.

In our shots, we try to achieve largely environmental shots where the backgrounds will help relate the stories behind these tattoos.

Tattoos are for life. In each life, a different story is told. Yet, they are all similar to one another.

Stay tuned.

Cheers!

~*Raine

another

ah kiat, 28, ex-triad member. tattoos were made in secondary school days. back then, teenage days were mostly about group identity, adrenaline rush, and days spent hanging around void decks. why tattoo? unlike ryan, when he did it many years ago, it used to be painful; it's like a trial, going through the pain. adolescence was about pride, and a yearning for some status and collective identity; triad activities would provide these. these are manifested in his tattoos on his bodies, which are remnants of his past history.

he said back then tattoos were protective talismans, and many would do it to look fiercer, so that they may have an edge over their rivals. back then they were symbols of masculinity. a significant part of his youth was spent hanging out with friends in tattoo parlours. it was the "in" thing amongst his group; often he has no money to make and had to watch his friends in envy. he started off with small tattoo, when he accumulates enough money from various activities and holiday jobs he would expand his tattoos. it was his hobby. his tattoos mainly consist of demons, white tigers and dragons, which were popular back then. he also tattooed on his fingers, ankle and forehead, of which has been "scraped out".

the background was the void deck; a place where they used to "loiter". they would sit down and bring out their pens and textbooks, which are actually sandwiched with marijuana, of which they would consume with cigarettes. areas such as these were their territory, hanging out in large groups in such places evoke a sense of comfort and belonging.

ah kiat no longer is involved in these type of activities and is now married with one child, and currently works as a renovator.

i wanted to take a picture of him carrying his baby to show the softness and contrast between something fierce and innocent, and to reveal another side of him. that would be much better right!!! however he declined as his child's age was too young and said it was inconvenient. it was really a pity man... but that's really out of my control and we have to respect his decision of course.

fresh from the tattoo shop

Hello nice people,

I went down to visit Gerard (the tattoo artist) at his shop today. Special thanks to Gerard and Ryan for being sporty and allowing me feature their faces in my images, and also to Germaine for introducing me to Gerard and going down with me.


Gerard tattooing Ryan


Biomech Tattoo





Ryan cannot remember how many tattoos he has, but according to him, they will join up to be one tattoo when it is all done. Instead of tattooing to "show off", he sees tattoos as a form of art.

What struck me today was the tattooing process. I went with the misconception that tattooing will be painful with the person being tattooed gritting his teeth and bearing the pain. I feel that the moods portrayed in the last two shots are "useful" to our cause in the sense that it helps to break the stereotype of pain and shed light on the process.

Not only was Ryan relaxed, he was joking with me and Gerard while being tattooed. When asked, he mentioned that he normally sleeps through the process.

This is all I have for now, will look through again in a couple of days if I find anything useful.

Regards,
geraldtay

some pics so far...

not the most artish pics... but i thought they had documentary value. the subjects requested their faces not to be shown.

this is ah long, 24. his story is a really sad and personal one. its roughly about taking love for granted and not realising it before its too late; it sounds cliched here but alot of things are lost in translation. ill have to phrase it carefully to do justice to the story. the picture was taken in his room, where his ex-gf used to stay in and they used to share this bed.

ah tan, 26, was in a ss and made his tattoo to reinforce his identity as an intimidating rebel back then in the 1990s, when the society was more conservative and fewer people had demonic tattoos then. he did it on impulse and said the only regret he has is not putting more. he says he does what he likes and feels passion should be pursued without "thinking too much". now, deejaying has succeeded his past hobby of street politics. this shot was taken in his room, which is strewn with audio equipment.

this is ah han, 24; his tattoo was made when he was 15. under the hongkong gangster flick "gu huo zai" influence, he used to participate in ss and also made a tattoo which was similar to ekin cheng's because "gu huo zai" was cool back then. he has long quit the gang; now, he feels a bit embarrassed and inconvenienced by the negative connotations of the tattoo. for example, he likes swimming but has to avoid weekends because there are more families present. location of picture was in hdb stairs area where his group used to hang out.

the eyes

the eyes can make the picture! it'd be good to have some glint in the eyes.

(for me some don't want to show eyes though)