TV 'Ink' Shows Increase Desire for Expensive Body Art
Tina Brown
Issue date: 7/11/07 Section: Community
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Ryan Campbell, an SLCC student and a tattoo artist for three years at A Way of Life Tattoo says he thinks people realize it's a way to express themselves.
"I think people realized that tattoos aren't just for bikers anymore. Anyone can get them, and you can get amazing artwork," said Campbell.
This trend has become so popular that we now see TV shows based on just tattoos. TV shows such as "Miami Ink," "Hart and Huntington" and the new show coming this August "LA Ink." People from all over the world come to the tattoo artists featured on the show to get custom tattoos. The customers are shown on camera telling about their tattoo, the meaning behind it and why they came to that tattoo parlor.
The Hart and Huntington tattoo shop is located in the Palms Hotel in Las Vegas Nevada. Although there are no cameras filming the tattoo shop anymore, it has made quite a buzz with viewers. The shop opens at 11 a.m. and stays open until the early morning of 2 a.m. Eager customers are usually lining up before 11 a.m. Due to the popularity of the show, the shop has been able to make good money off the tattoos. Customers can expect to pay a pretty penny for a tattoo designed by one of the many tattoo artists featured on the show.
Maybe the appeal of the show is the drama that goes on in a tattoo shop, or maybe viewers like watching the different tattoos people get.
"People want to experience getting tattoos without actually getting one, they watch the tattoo shows to get a perspective, it makes them realize why people get tattoos," said Campbell.
Most people with tattoos will say their tattoos have a deep meaning.
"I have a tattoo of a dragonfly. I've always liked dragonflies and they hold a special meaning for me," said Lora Garrison a SLCC alumni.
"Some people get tattoos to remember someone or something in their life, or something they really love and some people get one just to say they have one since it's so popular right now," said Campbell.
"I got a tattoo because it symbolizes things in my life. They get addicting. After you get one, you want more," said Debbie Evans, a college student.
Some common reasons people don't get tattoos are because it's permanent and they might regret it.
"I don't have a tattoo because I'm afraid when I get older, it won't look good anymore and I will regret it," said Seve Sayama a college student.
"I never wanted tattoos. I started getting them because my friends started getting them. I started drawing them for my friends, I got my first one when I started apprenticing." said Campbell.
Campbell says if he knows a tattoo won't look good, he will try to convince his customers of getting something different or altering it so it will look better so they will be happy with it later on in life.
"Most of the stuff we cover up are names," said Campbell. "Most of the time people regret tattoos because they got the tattoo when they were drunk, or by someone who didn't know what they were doing, or they got a name of someone tattooed on their body."
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