The World Atlas of Tattoo

I just wanted to thank Anna Felicity Friedman for including me in her new book "The World Atlas of Tattoo" and to Lars Krutak for including me in his final cut of 10 interviews. I was quite surprised with the result... however with contributors such as Tricia Allen, Dr. Sebastien Galliot, Dr. Lars Krutak, Dr. Matt Lodder, and Tomasz Madaj (to name a few) I actually should have expected this.
Very proud to be included amongst such extrordinary talent :-)

The book is divided into chapters according to geographical location (Continents, with a few exceptions) which are then examined indepth with a short introduction of the tattooing history in that area. 

After the introduction there are more personal interviews of artists living in that region who's tattooing stands out as beyond the norm. This may be due to originality, quality or cultural heritage. In this way you may have an artist doing innovative colour work followed by a bushman who is the last of his tribe applying tattoos with a razor blade.There is no distiction as to style or technique, artists are chosen for their cultural and artistic significance and all are treated with equal respect.

Two original hand tattooed Haida designs and a some freehand Neo-Nordic dragons

Two versions of Yggdrasil the World Tree and a hand tattooed body suit I started about 18 years back combining styles from most of the Pacific islands from Borneo to Haida Gwaii

Making a book claiming to be a World Tattoo Atlas and then only including 100 artists may seem an impossible task. Many current big names in the tattoo community may not be represented here. However the more outstanding of them are often named in the chapter introductions for their contributions to 20th Century tattooing history. This is in many ways more of an honour, as their work is so intertwined with tattoo history that the mere mention of their names conjures the images and nothing more need be said. 

As a result you get a condensed version of some of the most innovative, exotic and endangered tattoo cultures and practitioners who you may not have otherwise seen or been aware of. This combined with the background history of tattooing around the world means that this book will remain in your reference library long after some current tattooing trends have faded and gone.

You won't find alot of the household names from reality programs here... but you will find so much more :-) 

World Atlas of Tattoo by Anna Felicity Friedman

Thames & Hudson

ISBN: 978-0-500-51786-4