You've worked long and hard. Plus, we've already begun happy hour in preparation for Bearded Man of the Week Kris Kristofferson tonight and don't really have much writerly energy left. So, instead... we'll take you on a whirlwind tour of the early days of photography, which were also, it seems, the beginning of the tattoo craze that still sweeps America to this day...
Seriously, though, tattoos have been staining the skin since ancient times:
Tattooing has been practiced worldwide. The Ainu, the indigenous people of Japan, traditionally wore facial tattoos. Today one can find Berbers of Tamazgha (North Africa) and Maori of New Zealand with facial tattoos. Tattooing was widespread among Polynesian peoples and among certain tribal groups in the Philippines, Borneo, Mentawai Islands, Africa, North America, South America, Mesoamerica, Europe, Japan, Cambodia, New Zealand and Micronesia. Despite some taboos surrounding tattooing, the art continues to be popular in many parts of the world. [Wikipedia]
Earlier today, we came across a blog page with a dozen great tattoo photos from the era of black-and-white photography. Here are a half-dozen of our favorites:
We'll take Pam or the one with Betty Boop inked on her leg... but generally, are a plethora of tattoos distracting? Hot?
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