Brandon Rogers Dive fl ag by Jay at Millennium Regulator by Robin Dutch “I have had some near death experiences in diving and life. But in life, and diving, as long as you still have a breath you still have a chance to go for it. I live and breathe diving. My tattoos are a reminder to live, and never quit doing what I love, no matter what circumstances I encounter.”
Tony ‘I am Goose’ Neal Tattoo by Kirsty Peake
Based on a photo by Alex Mustard of the WWI E49 British sub in the Shetland Islands, UK. Goose is always ready for a dive!
Stephanie Christie Tattoo by Mighele
“I got this tattoo in honor of my horse who died in an accident May 2012. His nickname was ‘Auswald the purple octopus’”.
Jett Britnell Sylized whale tails inked in the Cook Islands include Orca fl uke. South Seas sailors brought home tattoos in the 1800s
contained outbreak of tattoo-related skin infections in the U.S. last year, linked to a nontuberculous mycobacteria. The problem proved to be the ink, which the manufacturer had diluted with water. The matter was resolved and at no time were the tattoo shops or their sterilization procedures at issue. Tattoo shops undergo annual health department inspections in the U.S. and Canada, otherwise the tattoo trade remains essentially unregulated.
Who’s Tattooed?
It’s unlikely any one of us get through a day without seeing tattoos. Tens of millions of North Americans have them. Estimates suggest somewhere between 30,000 and 50,000 tattoo parlors are in business on this continent and about 75 per cent of their clients are men. Is there a profi le of the typical tattoo afi cionado? Not so much these days, as noted earlier. The tattoo cross cuts society and in this age of celebrity worship you’ll be comforted to know that those men and women on the big screen, and small, on stage twanging their guitars, and even in high profi le places you might not think to consider, wear tattoos just like the rest of us. Soccer royalty David Beckham wears them, so does his wife Victoria. Entertainment royalty’s in the game, too. Charlize Theron
Julio Baylon A wrap around reef scene
has a little fi sh on her ankle, and Lady Gaga of course, but did you know that Thomas Edison was tattooed? Country music star Keith Urban has tats. His wife Nicole Kidman says they’re “signposts along the way.” I kinda like that. Of course, Lindsay Lohan, Sly Stallone, Brad and Angie... all have tattoos in one spot or another. Some are interesting, some aren’t. Regardless, they are growing in numbers, the tattooed among us, whether celebrity or rank and fi le citizen.
Whatever your station in life, circumstances sometimes compel the removal of a tattoo. Once a permanent fi xture, the tattoo today can be removed and it’s become a very profi table business, growing faster than the tattoo biz itself. The laser removal technology developed in the 1980s has since been greatly advanced, if not perfected. No more scarring but the expensive laser machines translate to expensive treatments costing at a minimum two to three times the price of the tattoo, and as much as ten times more. This technology very effi ciently breaks up the tattoo ink that bubbles to the surface of the skin or drops into the hypodermis where, in either case, the body dispenses with it, as previously explained.
Guess what’s the most removed tattoo? The name of an ‘ex’.Of course there are many reasons to ‘delete’ though all are
rooted in this complexity we call the human condition. Inevitably, tattoos have become more than meets the eye. They can now transmit digital information using electronic ink, a technology with origins in livestock science. These barcode type markings when scanned read out a cow’s name, rank and serial number, and have led to development of the human interactive tattoo. Known as dermal displays or bio-sensing readouts, they’re designed to collect and provide data on your vital signs in real time. These aren’t necessarily a blend of art and science, visually speaking, but they are in the fi gurative sense. This is a burgeoning fi eld in the realm of implanted RFID chips and what was science fi ction not so long ago. Motorola recently revealed that they’re tinkering in what tech fi rm mc10 calls
‘epidermal electronics‘. This technology can monitor your health but can also substitute for a device you currently wear or carry. Truly amazing stuff , but that’s another story. The tattoo is uniquely human, whose enduring legacy is that it’s been keeping us company for a very long time. They are indelible declarations of personhood, of individuality, of our species as family, they say something about us. We love them, we hate them, they are a part of us and they are anything but skin deep.
www.divermag.com 25
Underwater photo: Russell Clark
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68