TATTOO AND PIERCING FEST

I saw a piece in the local paper about a Tattoo and Piercing Fest taking place at the Fairgrounds over the weekend. Tattoos played no part in my life until a few years ago when I was at the beach with my family and saw one on my sons leg. He knew what my reaction would be and had carefully hidden it for four years, covering it with his sock. In time, my anger subsided and now, several piercing later, I am still clueless about the attraction of these adornments to middle class youth. Despite my ambivalence to the art, I thought this would be the perfect place to meet and photograph some interesting looking people. I was not in any way disappointed.
In my view, tattoos and piercing can be broken down into two overlapping general varieties. Those that can be seen when the subject has her clothes on and those that can only be viewed with the subject in various states of undress.

Tattoos and piercing that are clearly visible-the clothes on variety-those on the face, arms, legs, etc seem to have adherents for a number of different reasons. There are the exhibitionists who appeared at the Fest in large numbers. They were proud of their adornments and appeared especially joyful to have them created in public view for all to see and admire. Still others do it because they (or their significant others) like the way they look so decorated.

 
The tattoos and piercing visible only by the undress mode could also be seen at the Fest. How-you might ask? Some of the subjects were proud enough of the art bestowed on their bottoms that they gladly slipped down their pants, bent over and bared themselves to those who were interested, allowing us to view and photograph tattoos in places not normally seen by the public. Some tattoos and piercings would be visible in a bikini while others clearly would only visible upon a more intimate inspection.

The tattoos and piercings which were publicly always hidden by clothing were obviously designed for sexual enhancement, especially the nipple and genitalia piercing (for both sexes) which could be viewed in photographic albums at various booths. Some of the booths had sliding curtains, presumably for just such piercings. I, did not have the good fortune to get into any of these private areas to pursue my photographic endeavors.

 

 

 

 

 
 
We saw the expected and some things we did not anticipate. There were a number of attractive young women who were having their lower backs just above their buttocks decorated with various designs that began just where their cracks ended. Some men, were the tough and silent types not showing any sign of pain or discomfort. Others clearly were "wanna be’s" The question I could never answer is what did they want to be? One was having a piercing through the upper part of his nose while his female companion could do nothing except to grasp her hands above her head and cringe.
 
Obviously besides the financial cost, the decorations can be painful when applied. Often, if it got too bad, there was someone accompanying the subject to hold their hand.

One thing that surprised me was the age of the people availing themselves of the artists. While some were just 18 (the legal age without parental consent), many others were well into their middle years and beyond.

 

 
In the end, the point of it all seems to be fashion, sensuality, being different, being seen and a good dose of exhibitionism. However, trends and styles change. One young lady repeatedly reminded prospects to; "be sure you can deal with the permanency of it, it costs a lot more to have it taken off than to put it on if it can be done at all"