BME: Body Modification Ezine

A tattooed person suspends from hooks, laying flat, one leg higher than the other. Their head is back, and they seem to be smiling, dark hair dangling like an anime character.

Celebrating body modification culture since 1994.

Tag: Tattoos

  • Tattoo Hollywood, Day Three: The Search For Curly’s Gold

    Written by

    Jordan Ginsberg


    And here we are, folks—photos from the the third and final day of Tattoo Hollywood. Forthcoming will be our final thoughts on the event and interviews, but until then, enjoy the pictures (and my charming pithy commentary, of course). Buy the ticket, take the ride—after the jump.

    This is so realistic, it just told me it just got out of a serious relationship and isn’t ready to date anyone yet.

    This is Gene from Tattoo Culture in Brooklyn, New York. He came to the convention with Martin, currently guesting at the shop by way of Austria. When we found out there was going to be a Bar Mitzvah happening on Saturday night in the hotel, your editor suggested bringing over Martin to offer to tattoo their son (“Vas is his birthday? Ve vill tattoo ze number on his arm”), but this was roundly rejected on account of being offensive on every possible level. Then we realized it was actually a Bat Mitzvah, not a Bar Mitzvah. All in all, a good showing for your editor. We should not be allowed out in public.

    “Do I look like a man who’s got time to just sit around and get one tattoo at a time? Come on. Gimme the deuce.”

    One of our award winners!

    New rule: Tattoos inspired by The Warriors get featured on ModBlog, no matter what. Hopefully, all future entries will be as ridiculously good as this one.

    More tattooers should wear smocks/aprons, we think. That, combined, with the lighting, makes this seem like it was done in a 1950s machine shop. We like that.

    Homina homina.

    Photos by Phil Barbosa, Thaddeus Brown and Jen Savage.

  • Tattoo Hollywood, Day Two: The Revengening

    Written by

    Jordan Ginsberg


    Hoo boy, we are still combing through the thousands (!) of images from last weekend’s inaugural Tattoo Hollywood convention, but there are some gems in there. With three photographers going, we couldn’t be there for every photo (and as such may not be able to give proper artist credits in every shot), but hopefully these at least convey the atmosphere of the weekend. After the jump? Day two at the convention, including Saturday night’s after-party.

    As you could probably tell from earlier posts, the portraiture work coming out of this convention was unreal. And, in some cases, undead. Eh? Right? Get it? Because he’s—yeah, I’ll just show myself out.

    Hey, I refuse to believe a man with that hearty a beard could be too big of a scumbag!

    Oh look, it’s the lovely Katie, who was helping out at the BME booth for the entire convention. Here she is stifling one of her grosser belches from the weekend, probably.

    In conjunction with our scumbaggy friend up there, we get to use both our Hearty Beards and our Hearty Mohawks tags in a single post? It must be our birthday!

    And here we have famed artist Boog on the right, giving that baby a haircut with some safety scissors, it looks like.

    Ha ha, look at those kidders, John and Johannes, just horsing around! Good one, fellas! (Quick, someone hold down OSHA while I administer the Amnesia Ray.)

    Michelangelo just pooped his pampers.

    What else does Tattoo Hollywood have to offer? Oh, nothing, just Benji Madden walking around stark naked, showing off his tattoos, all day, just for fun. Suck on that, TMZ.

    Hey, party time! Saturday night’s after-party was thrown at The Highlands, a nightclub conveniently located in the same hotel complex as the convention. Four-dollar beers, five-dollar cocktails and a bunch of tattooed people dancing on a patio until the wee hours? Not bad at all. And here? Here we have more conclusive evidence that chix dig mustaches, real or otherwise.

    This man just did a body-shot off a cactus.

    Oh hey, it’s celebrity DJ Benji Madden (again)! He played a mostly inoffensive set, aside from this song that features Lil Jon yelling “SHOTS!” over and over for a hundred years, the knowledge of which is a burden on our soul.

    Easily one of the highlights of the night was the always debonair Bob Roberts sweeping Rachel into his arms for a center-stage slow-dance to…Sweet Home Alabama. Tattoo Hollywood makes dreams come true, ladies and gentlemen.

    Dip dip dip.

    And finally, what with Hearty Beards and Hearty Mohawks accounted for, how could we not complete the holy trifecta with a little Nightmare Fuel?

    Still more to come!

    All photos by Phil Barbosa, Thaddeus Brown and Jen Savage.

  • Hit Those High Notes

    Written by

    Jordan Ginsberg


    Well, here is some straight-up vile pornography, courtesy of the folks at Taop Ansbach, in the Fatherland, who just hang out tattooing various cavernous, sinful body parts all over utilitarian joints all day long, for laughs. We can’t read the German script at the top, but we can only assume it is some manner of mean-spirited slur, speaking derisively of dental dams.

    After the jump, the vagiknee is further adorned with goodies.

  • Tossed Upon Cloudy Seas

    Written by

    Jordan Ginsberg


    Ahoy-hoy, folks! Hope the afternoon finds you well. The above adaptation of famed artist Frank Frazetta‘s Galleon was tattooed by Wil at Randy Adams Tattoo in Fort Worth, Texas. The flow and colors of the piece are great, and the tattoo itself makes a fine addition to our ModBlog Pantheon of Pirate Ships, sharing space with the likes of this handsome fella here. We, of course, are just fans of the artwork. BME takes no political position on pirates, piracy, Gore Verbinski films or Cockney speech in general.

  • Many Become One

    Written by

    Jordan Ginsberg


    The last time we checked in with the illustrious Sean Philips, he was assigning age-old apprenticeship tasks, but here he is with his lovely wife Rianne and their new son, Sylas! Apparently, the answer to “What Would Sean Do?” is to build a darling family. Also, probably something about firing guns.

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