A black-and-white photo of a person mid-air in a Superman-style body suspension pose, supported by multiple hooks in their back and legs, smiling joyfully toward the camera. They are suspended horizontally in a large indoor space with high ceilings and visible rigging. A group of onlookers—some seated, some standing—watch with expressions of admiration, amusement, and support. The atmosphere is lively and communal, capturing a moment of shared experience and transformation.

My grandad is cooler than your grandad

Ok, he’s not my grandad — this is tattoo icon and author Herbert Hoffmann (the amazing and highly recommended “Bilderbuchmenschen“, also available in English from Last Gasp as “Living Picture Books”), photographed by AEEC in Bibione, Italy. A couple more pictures are after the break.

See more in BME/Culture/People (Culture)

Comments

99 responses to “My grandad is cooler than your grandad”

  1. cocaire Avatar

    I love seeing pictures like this it really answers the dumb question of “what are you going to do when your xx years old?” my answer…be happy

  2. cocaire Avatar

    I love seeing pictures like this it really answers the dumb question of “what are you going to do when your xx years old?” my answer…be happy

  3. cocaire Avatar

    I love seeing pictures like this it really answers the dumb question of “what are you going to do when your xx years old?” my answer…be happy

  4. trixiebell Avatar
    trixiebell

    haha #1 I was just thinking the same thing 🙂

  5. trixiebell Avatar
    trixiebell

    haha #1 I was just thinking the same thing 🙂

  6. trixiebell Avatar
    trixiebell

    haha #1 I was just thinking the same thing 🙂

  7. IC2163 Avatar

    He´s a lovely old man. I´ve met him allready and we spend some time together in a pub… he also tattooed me his signature… well kinda! XD

    Non the less, he is very charming!

  8. IC2163 Avatar

    He´s a lovely old man. I´ve met him allready and we spend some time together in a pub… he also tattooed me his signature… well kinda! XD

    Non the less, he is very charming!

  9. IC2163 Avatar

    He´s a lovely old man. I´ve met him allready and we spend some time together in a pub… he also tattooed me his signature… well kinda! XD

    Non the less, he is very charming!

  10. pelirojo Avatar

    #1 That is exactly right!

  11. pelirojo Avatar

    #1 That is exactly right!

  12. pelirojo Avatar

    #1 That is exactly right!

  13. english Avatar
    english

    i just tell people i’ll have other things to worry about than a green wrinkled body which i think looks lovely anyway.. i’ll have lovely friends and family members around to kick back with who i have spent a life time getting to know and vice versa.. and i doubt i’ll be chasing girls down the street or at the pub.. they’ll be chasing me wanting to know my story.

    people’s outlook on life can be very shallow..

    those photos give me faith again that life is full of happiness and difference!

  14. english Avatar
    english

    i just tell people i’ll have other things to worry about than a green wrinkled body which i think looks lovely anyway.. i’ll have lovely friends and family members around to kick back with who i have spent a life time getting to know and vice versa.. and i doubt i’ll be chasing girls down the street or at the pub.. they’ll be chasing me wanting to know my story.

    people’s outlook on life can be very shallow..

    those photos give me faith again that life is full of happiness and difference!

  15. english Avatar
    english

    i just tell people i’ll have other things to worry about than a green wrinkled body which i think looks lovely anyway.. i’ll have lovely friends and family members around to kick back with who i have spent a life time getting to know and vice versa.. and i doubt i’ll be chasing girls down the street or at the pub.. they’ll be chasing me wanting to know my story.

    people’s outlook on life can be very shallow..

    those photos give me faith again that life is full of happiness and difference!

  16. Sade Avatar
    Sade

    well, he might be someone’s grand-daddy…

    anyway, he looks awesome and so happy. i wanna be like him when i’m older:)

  17. Sade Avatar
    Sade

    well, he might be someone’s grand-daddy…

    anyway, he looks awesome and so happy. i wanna be like him when i’m older:)

  18. Sade Avatar
    Sade

    well, he might be someone’s grand-daddy…

    anyway, he looks awesome and so happy. i wanna be like him when i’m older:)

  19. deadite_666 Avatar

    What a lovely chap 🙂

  20. deadite_666 Avatar

    What a lovely chap 🙂

  21. deadite_666 Avatar

    What a lovely chap 🙂

  22. Greta Avatar
    Greta

    If he were my grandpa, I think I would have a complex b/c he’d be cooler then me…

  23. Greta Avatar
    Greta

    If he were my grandpa, I think I would have a complex b/c he’d be cooler then me…

  24. Greta Avatar
    Greta

    If he were my grandpa, I think I would have a complex b/c he’d be cooler then me…

  25. cuntcumber Avatar

    From: http://www.bookmistress.net/books/living_picture_books.htm
    “In 1949, when he [Herbert Hoffmann] returned from four years in a Russian prisoner-of-war camp….”

    I don’t like jumping to conclusions, so does anyone know if he was there for a reason other than being in the Nazi army?

  26. cuntcumber Avatar

    From: http://www.bookmistress.net/books/living_picture_books.htm
    “In 1949, when he [Herbert Hoffmann] returned from four years in a Russian prisoner-of-war camp….”

    I don’t like jumping to conclusions, so does anyone know if he was there for a reason other than being in the Nazi army?

  27. cuntcumber Avatar

    From: http://www.bookmistress.net/books/living_picture_books.htm
    “In 1949, when he [Herbert Hoffmann] returned from four years in a Russian prisoner-of-war camp….”

    I don’t like jumping to conclusions, so does anyone know if he was there for a reason other than being in the Nazi army?

  28. inexorabilis Avatar
    inexorabilis

    Just because a man was in a Russian pow camp, or in the Wehrmacht does not mean he was/is a NAZI.

  29. inexorabilis Avatar
    inexorabilis

    Just because a man was in a Russian pow camp, or in the Wehrmacht does not mean he was/is a NAZI.

  30. inexorabilis Avatar
    inexorabilis

    Just because a man was in a Russian pow camp, or in the Wehrmacht does not mean he was/is a NAZI.

  31. Odd Avatar
    Odd

    Hehe this actually kinda answers my thought about how it’ll be like to be tattoed AND growing old… he looks so full of confidence and laid back relaxed… can’t really see why “old people” can’t be tattoed, it’s not like you’re gonna care what others think by then!? 😛

  32. Odd Avatar
    Odd

    Hehe this actually kinda answers my thought about how it’ll be like to be tattoed AND growing old… he looks so full of confidence and laid back relaxed… can’t really see why “old people” can’t be tattoed, it’s not like you’re gonna care what others think by then!? 😛

  33. Odd Avatar
    Odd

    Hehe this actually kinda answers my thought about how it’ll be like to be tattoed AND growing old… he looks so full of confidence and laid back relaxed… can’t really see why “old people” can’t be tattoed, it’s not like you’re gonna care what others think by then!? 😛

  34. Carlo Avatar
    Carlo

    Absolutely happy…agree with you #1

  35. Carlo Avatar
    Carlo

    Absolutely happy…agree with you #1

  36. Carlo Avatar
    Carlo

    Absolutely happy…agree with you #1

  37. Tom For Real Avatar

    the last picture –
    “I left the iron on!”

  38. Tom For Real Avatar

    the last picture –
    “I left the iron on!”

  39. Tom For Real Avatar

    the last picture –
    “I left the iron on!”

  40. cuntcumber Avatar

    inexorabilis — Good job ignoring the question I was asking. But some basic research on the Wehrmacht shows that it was created by the Nazi party, that the Commander-in-Chief of the forces was Hitler, and that “The Wehrmacht was found to be complicit in the Holocaust.” ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wehrmacht )

    So, while you are right that just because someone was in a Russian POW camp or the Wehrmacht does not make then a Nazi, your statement does not address my question. The question, which still stands, is whether or not Herbert Hoffmann was in a Russian POW camp because he was a part of the Nazi army (or Wehrmacht, as you were kind enough to name) or whether it was for some other reason.

  41. cuntcumber Avatar

    inexorabilis — Good job ignoring the question I was asking. But some basic research on the Wehrmacht shows that it was created by the Nazi party, that the Commander-in-Chief of the forces was Hitler, and that “The Wehrmacht was found to be complicit in the Holocaust.” ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wehrmacht )

    So, while you are right that just because someone was in a Russian POW camp or the Wehrmacht does not make then a Nazi, your statement does not address my question. The question, which still stands, is whether or not Herbert Hoffmann was in a Russian POW camp because he was a part of the Nazi army (or Wehrmacht, as you were kind enough to name) or whether it was for some other reason.

  42. cuntcumber Avatar

    inexorabilis — Good job ignoring the question I was asking. But some basic research on the Wehrmacht shows that it was created by the Nazi party, that the Commander-in-Chief of the forces was Hitler, and that “The Wehrmacht was found to be complicit in the Holocaust.” ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wehrmacht )

    So, while you are right that just because someone was in a Russian POW camp or the Wehrmacht does not make then a Nazi, your statement does not address my question. The question, which still stands, is whether or not Herbert Hoffmann was in a Russian POW camp because he was a part of the Nazi army (or Wehrmacht, as you were kind enough to name) or whether it was for some other reason.

  43. Aiglos Avatar

    Not everyone who joined the Nazi army hated jews. Some of them were simply forced conscripts as far as I know. I have a gentleman who survived the Holocaust in the building I work in and he told me all about how his best friend was forced into the army and was later forced to arrest the families of the people he lived with. He later killed himself.

  44. Aiglos Avatar

    Not everyone who joined the Nazi army hated jews. Some of them were simply forced conscripts as far as I know. I have a gentleman who survived the Holocaust in the building I work in and he told me all about how his best friend was forced into the army and was later forced to arrest the families of the people he lived with. He later killed himself.

  45. Aiglos Avatar

    Not everyone who joined the Nazi army hated jews. Some of them were simply forced conscripts as far as I know. I have a gentleman who survived the Holocaust in the building I work in and he told me all about how his best friend was forced into the army and was later forced to arrest the families of the people he lived with. He later killed himself.

  46. Snap Dragon Avatar

    Yeah I always tell people that with everything else that is going to sag and be wrinkly Tattoo’s will be the last thing on my mind as a worry anyway. They will still be beautiful far after I am not.

  47. Snap Dragon Avatar

    Yeah I always tell people that with everything else that is going to sag and be wrinkly Tattoo’s will be the last thing on my mind as a worry anyway. They will still be beautiful far after I am not.

  48. Snap Dragon Avatar

    Yeah I always tell people that with everything else that is going to sag and be wrinkly Tattoo’s will be the last thing on my mind as a worry anyway. They will still be beautiful far after I am not.

  49. Marisa_DiMattia Avatar

    I adore him! His book is my absolute fave. A must have.
    [I even bought another copy after i gave you mine!]

  50. Marisa_DiMattia Avatar

    I adore him! His book is my absolute fave. A must have.
    [I even bought another copy after i gave you mine!]

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