There’s a lot of discussion happening in tattoo circles lately about the tradition of tattooing, why it matters, or why it doesn’t, how those who came before us paved the way, or how many newcomers have not the slightest bit of reverence for the history of tattooing. I, like many, have my own opinions, though I like to think I’m coming from a different perspective than the false dichotomy of either of the “Tradition Matters” or “Fuck Tradition” camps. In all honesty, I think both are relevant but both perspectives are missing something. So here’s my take.

As tattooers, old and new, we exist on a spectrum. Tattooing more than likely is as old as human history itself. The oldest recorded tattoos are thousands of years old and I believe it’s safe to assume that tattoos have been around even longer than what we can date them back to. This craft was here long before any living tattooer today and will likely be around far after our own expiration. It’s form and function has changed time and time again, but it still remains. I’d like to suggest that tattooing is intrinsically human, that this practice is one that makes humans human, one of many traits that causes us to stand out from the rest of the animal world. And so with that, yes, tradition absolutely matters whether you choose to pay homage to it or not. Your ability to partake in this craft rests on the shoulders of those who came before you. You are not the pioneer you think you are. You are not unique and special just because you tattoo. You are not an isolated and insular entity in the world of tattooing and you never will be. However, part of the tradition of tattooing is essentially snubbing thy nose at the tradition of tattooing.

2,500 year old female mummy known as the "Ice Maiden"

In the context of modern America, if it weren’t for people like Samuel O’Reilly tattooing wouldn’t have gone electric when it did. If it weren’t for Bert Grimm tattooing may have stayed in the shadows and remained taboo for much longer than it did. It was Ed Hardy who introduced Horiyoshi III to the tattoo machine and helped modernize his traditional Japanese tattooing. Paul Booth gave us a glimpse of what was possible with black and grey. Grime blew our minds with originality and straight up bad assery. Tattooers like Ami James brought the craft into the mainstream and we can thank the likes of Nikko Hurtado and Mike Demasi for pushing the boundaries of what is even possible in a tattoo. This is but a shallow history lesson, and only names just a few of the more well known in our history, but there are so many modern tattooers that have pushed beyond the perceived limitations of what tattooing and tattoos could be, and it wasn’t because they stayed in their lane and adhered to tradition.

Yet something seems to be lost among far too many in the newer generations of tattooers, certainly not all, but definitely many. It’s pretty disheartening when I meet a young, new tattooer who doesn’t even know who Sailor Jerry is, let alone the lesser known in our collective history. Some of these tatter tots don’t even realize that, for instance, tattooing wasn’t legal in states like Massachusetts until 2001, or New York until 1997, around the same time some of these people were just being born. They are completely unaware of why they should even care, as if tattoos are just another market commodity and tattooing is just a cool job. They have no idea why homage should be paid to those before us and they could give fuck all about anything beyond their own self centered narrow scope of vision, beyond their own self serving interests. And they wonder why the old timers are so pissed. They wonder why they get no respect. And honestly, most of them simply don’t care. They’ve got their perfect looking social media pages with their 50K+ followers and as long as their clients like their art and their books are closed while they’re rolling in dough, fuck it. It all seems so empty and hollow and though I can’t help but to pity them, I also can’t help but to admire them.

Two Types of Tattooers — Chill… It’s just a meme. Go follow @danktattoomeme on IG

Let’s be honest, there are some pretty terrible traditions in tattooing that have no place in the current manifestation of tattoo culture and I’m personally here for it. This is not to say that all who came before uphold these terrible traditions, but they certainly exist. Hazing, exploitation and the outright abuse of apprentices, rampant sexism, homophobia, transphobia and racism, being a grumpy jaded dick head of a toxic male just for the hell of it, seedy shops with creeper vibes, and so much more. I’m glad these traditions are not only falling to the wayside, but there’s a straight up rebellion against that dying status quo amidst the industry, and good riddance to that. As a culture, we can and should be better than this. It’s 2022 and we need to act like it, we need to progress our culture, our society and we should be a bastion of progressive practices. Our clients deserve it, we deserve it and the future of tattooing will necessitate it. Any tattooer trying to hold things back is quite simply an enemy of progress and I can only hope they flutter and flounder in defeat as this new wave crashes into them and consumes tattoo culture. We can thank the new generations for pushing tattooing in this direction.

While I appreciate this aspect, this pushing of boundaries, this breaking free from tradition, I also understand that we, as tattooers, need to know where we came from so that we know where we are headed. So that we are not just flippantly moving forward without acknowledging that we too only exist because of the boundary pushers and tradition breakers before us. So that we don’t repeat history and fail to comprehend why certain traditions developed, why they persist and why some of them should remain in place. We can both honor tradition while simultaneously turning it on it’s head. We can pay homage to those who paved the way and still pave new paths for those who will come after. So, do your homework, study your history, then get out there and make your own. The future of tattooing relies on it.

ON THE TRADITION OF TATTOOING