Critical Cultural Mass - 2012 Sydney Tattoo & Body Art Expo

Is it Rock 'N' Roll? Bikes and Bikers? Retro Trippies; all 50's inspired? Or is it now anyone who ever wanted to do something, something just a little different... It's all the above and a hell of a lot more too! And it was certainly not Street Fashion Sydney's intent to cover back-to-back Tattoo stories but hey; when a subculture reaches the kind of critical mass that Tattoo seems to have finally achived; then its really more surprising that there are not more tattoo stories on SFS.

The Tattoo and tattooing is getting plenty of coverage, as was plenty of skin in a plethora of Tattoo styles at the  2012 Sydney Tattoo & Body Art Expo. I was more than a little taken aback by the number of exhibitors, the quality, the quantity and just how bloody stylish (though sometimes a little too studied), at  just how big the whole Tattoo thing has become. So it would seem to me that the time has come to lay to rest that age old criticism of tattoos... with this many people, with this much Tattooing going on and coming so so close to becoming main-stream-culture - the days of regretting that Tat are over baby!

For those of you out at Timbuktu or Back-of-Bourke; or some palce where you have not noticed the growing Brigade of tattoo wearing peoples; Sandra and I have produced a series of portraits and 'needle-point' pictures to help you get in touch with world of Tattooing as it is today..


Kent Johnson is a widely published and exhibited Fashion & Portrait Photographer; he is also the writer and publisher of Street Fashion Sydney.

Sandra Ramacher is a Portrait Photographer, she is also Director of the Sydney Photography Studio.

Special thanks to Sydney Tattoo & Body Art Expo; patrons of the event and exhibitors one and all. www.tattooexpo.com.au/