5 best tattoo books for 2015
We live in a modern world where social media and trends rule our world. The pressure to figure out who we are, and who our identity is, moves us towards anything that can put a “stamp” on us to show the world who we are. Tattoos are not just there for people to have a significant other’s name on our back, or the infamous “tramp stamp”. Tattoos ideas are there to do more than express your identity – they help you to define who you are.
Everyone is a white canvas and the tattoos are simply art that express your creativity and identity. Here are the five best books that talk about tattoo designs and how they bring inspirations on having tattoos.
1.Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion
In the streets of Los Angeles, in the late 80s, gang members would décor themselves with different tattoos that showed their brotherhood. Gregory Boyle, the founder and owner of Homeboy Industries, he discusses all the different lives of the gang members in the heart of the gang world; Los Angeles. With sparkling humor and some generosity, the essays of the gang members portray a world that is misinterpreted by the media of this world. Tattoos on the Heart is a book that is gorgeous and uplifting. They teach all about how kinship and redemption are what binds them together with unconditional love.
2. The Word Made Flesh: Literary Tattoos from Bookworms
The Word Made Flesh is a beautiful collection of the world’s most fascinating and meaningful literary tattoos and personal essays. It is an intimate book that is filled with all types of tattoos and messages that tackle the thought-provoking topics that people don’t necessarily face in the world. There are over 150 full colored photographs of human epidermis that are adorned with quotations and images that give homage to some of the world’s pioneers in Literature, such as Shakespeare, Plath, Pynchon and Dickinson. The statements that are placed on the tattoos show the personal attachment and significance to the wearer.
3. Science Ink: Tattoos of the Science Obsession
The body art collides with the elegant, mind blowing world of science. Written by the world renowned author, Carl Zimmer, Science Ink showcases hundreds of mesmerizing tattoos that give a strong attribute to the different scientific cultures and disciplines i.e. Neuroscience, Mathematics, Biology and Astrophysics. Each individual has a strong attachment to the tattoos that they wear, and scientific images shows the great lengths that our world has gone through to get to where we are today. The best part of this book is the way that Carl Zimmer ponders on whether the image of Darwin’s finches hold a higher significance in comparison to the radƒiologist with a uranium atom inked into his chest.
4. Customizing the Body: The Art and Culture of Tattooing
Published in the year 1989, Customizing the Body is a book that was ground-breaking in the ethnographic field. It reveals how the world of tattoos are connected and spread out all across our history, such as anthropology, sociology, occupational experience as well as the negative consequences that people receive from getting a tattoo. There is still a strong stigma in our society to those that have tattoos on their bodies and the only way to tackle this issue is by informing people and spreading the awareness of how much a tattoo means to individuals. Included in the book are some stellar photos of contemporary tattoos.
5. The Mammoth Book of Tattoos
This giant volume of illustrated tattoos showcases some of the world’s best skin art and how they have progressed over history as society increased with modern improvements. Written by Lal Hardy, she included over 500 striking photographic images of tattoos that are covered with different style pieces, hieroglyphs and Chinese characters. The works that are shown are very unique and distinctive. Featured in the book are Discovery Channel’s LA Ink stars and actors. All of these are shown by the author to give examples on how great tattoos are and what they signify.
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