The First Tattoo Research Paper

The author received his first tattoo a few months after his eighteenth birthday. He had spent several years focusing on the meaning, artistic design and placement. Ink was the first thing he desired when he was diagnosed with cancer. Once the writer became an official cancer survivor, three years out from his last chemotherapy treatment, he went and got inked. Etched in black ink on his upper chest are the words, “I Win,” and underneath are the beginning, and ending dates of his chemotherapy treatments. The process was a primal practice of connecting with the physical self. The author developed a deep bond with his tattoo artist. He has vowed to never ink his body without careful planning, and contemplation on the meaning of the ink. Yet, …show more content…
Mankind has been using their body as the canvas for a long time, even tracing back to frozen mummies over 5,000 years ago (Lineberry). Like most art forms, tattoos come in all shapes and sizes, elaborate and simple. They have been used to tell life stories, such as with the Maori, or merely to just add some decoration and show what humans love. It is one of the oldest art forms in the world and yet today they have a stigma. Most people would never consider getting them, and they are forbidden in the reaches of corporate culture. However, in many traditions, they are much revered form of …show more content…
They began springing up on military personnel, mostly and seaman who had got them in China and the surrounding islands. The tattoos were simple and depicted things that most sailors back then enjoyed; scantily clad women, clipper ships, anchors, sparrows and even dolphins. These sailors brought the tattoos back through ports in America, and this form of self-expression spread from there. The biggest name to come out of this period, and one that probably helped to inspire the trend today, is Norman Keith Collins; better known as Sailor Jerry. Norman Collins spent most of his life traveling, whether it be in the Navy or for recreation. He had an obsession with Eastern thought and philosophy. It wasn’t until he was older that he settled down in Honolulu, Hawaii and opened up his famous shop. His work in the Navy and his love of the Eastern traditions were apparent in his work (Burhmeister). Jerry fiddled with his own tattoo machines and even collaborated with chemists to come up with something never heard of, purple ink (Burhmeister). He also kept in contact with the famous, but highly closed off, Japanese tattoo masters. He had met some during his time in the Navy and kept up correspondence, talking about all things tattooing. It is because of him that Japanese