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Start of the Birthday Weekend! My friends threw me a lovely surprise party

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Went to an event at Printworks to finish off the amazing weekend :)

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Caught up with some friends and we went for ice cream

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Went to an amazing light exhibition at 118 The Strand 

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Night in with the roommates! We cooked dinner together 

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First day in the new building starting my elective 'Think it Make it'

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After having this constant tooth ache all week, I had my dentist appointment in the morning. They put me under the big daunting bright light and sat me in the reclining chair. They decided to do a mouth x-ray on me, placing this big uncomfortable camera in my mouth in which i had to bite on. After a few tedious tries of trying to see whats going on in there they had seen i had not one, but three wisdom teeth growing through. One of which was growing at an angle and pushing my other teeth. No wonder why my mouth was hurting so bad! Annoyingly, they said they couldn't arrange an appointment to get it out unless there was a constant aggravation and i would have to report back to them in a month if it still was. Ridiculous. But i've heard all about the monstrosity of getting a wisdom tooth taken out and the very long and uncomfortable aftermath. So maybe it was a blessing in disguise.

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Today I had a lazy day. I wasn't feeling to good but still managed to catch up on the work i had missed. Later that evening I went to the Greenwich Peninsula driving range. The view is beautiful as it overlooks the whole of Canary Wharf, especially at night when all the city lights are best projected. I am actually awful at golf, and so is my friend, but its still a fun activity we both enjoy doing where all you pretty much have to do is swing and hit the golfball as strong as you can. The food there was lovely and the drinks were even better. There was so many men there who you could tell have been playing for years. They had all the equipment themselves and swung the ball with such strength you could hear the swing in the air! And then there were us.. just having laugh but as long as your enjoying yourself thats all that matters! :)

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Todays the penultimate day before i turn 20. Wow my last day of being a teenager, i cant believe how fast time has flown by. I completely understand why people would be scared to turn 20. At first glance it feels like you're stuck in this debate with yourself where you don't know whether to act grown or to still be like an adolescent. We're still trying to discover ourselves and our identity, our priorities, who and what we love. I think its okay to still be unsure what you want to do however that shouldn't be the reason you stop pushing yourself and just settle. It's time to build yourself as a person in every aspect, mentally and emotionally. One thing I am learning is to stop comparing my situations to others. If someone else is achieving big things be happy for them, use their success as a motivation. On the other hand, don't exhaust yourself or belittle yourself because you feel like you're not progressing anywhere.

Anyways, today me and my friends went out for dinner at this fancy Turkish restaurant in Chigwell. Conveniently, me and my bestfriend share the same birthday, so we can celebrate together!

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It's the big day. The birthday! But firstly it's submission day so let's prioritise and hand that in. Done. Okay now back to celebrations.

Woke up in my house back at home to see all my family and get the presents of course! Then i had to look the part, and to look the part I need to make a quick detour to the hair salon. Big bouncy blowdry. Okay that's the spirit. Had a lovely quick brunch with my family and ordered myself a bueno frappe. Then back at home the delicious chocolate cake comes out and it's time to blow out the candles. Hopefully my wish was made in time! Now time to head back to London and meet my friends. We went for a lovely meal in Piccadilly and headed off to the bar afterwards. Classic Marni, forgets her ID so we will have to scrap that. Nothing can ever run too smoothly with me. I'm always forgetting something or something has to go wrong. But i'm not going to let that get me down. Instead we will head back home so I can go grab it and head somewhere more local in North Greenwich. Ah yes the o2. Lets go grab some cheeky cocktails in Las Iguanas. Great way to end the night!

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“All the world’s a stage, and the men and women merely players” - Shakespeare

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“Under this mask, another mask. I will never finish removing all these faces.” - Claude Cahun

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“Identity is about sameness and difference, about the personal and the social. ‘About what you have in common with some people and what differentiates you from others.’ - Weeks, 1990

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“You have one identity. The days of you having a different image for work friends or coworkers and for the other people you know are probably coming to an end pretty quickly… Having two identities for yourself is an example of a lack of integrity.” - Mark Zuckerberg

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“Traditionally in African art the head represents everything; your soul, your being, it has your eyes… it is considered the seat of your soul.” - Kwame Akoto-Bamfo

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“One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman” - Simone de Beauvoir

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Self Identity

What we think we are now in the light of our past and present circumstances.

What we think we would like to be, in the trajectory of a hoped for future

Social Identity

“The expectations and opinions that others have of us” - how we want to appear to family, friends, tutors and future employees. The external

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People contribute to who we are.
Discusses the importance of language in association of our identity.
However, our culture and background doesn't have to put us in a 'box' and define us. We don't have to stick to what we know and a key part of building our identity and becoming who we are is our experiences.

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How do we decide who we are? Hetain Patel’s surprising performance plays with identity, language and accent -- and challenges you to think deeper than surface appearances. A delightful meditation on self, with performer Yuyu Rau, and inspired by Bruce Lee.

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Identity shifts

It is shaped by our own experience, and what we aspire to be (self identity)

Language forms part of identity

It can be used to describe it

We can be judged by it

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Documentations of identification: passport, birth certificate

Face, head and shoulders, signature,

Images and signatures are both signs of recognition

Forensic examples: tattoo, scar, birthmark

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“A foul society has flung itself, like Narcissus, to gaze at its trivial image on metal” - Baudelaire, 1859 

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Narcissus is the man who fell in love with his own reflection, so much so he ignored his love, in the end drowned in the pond. Symbol of vanity.

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Right from the start, studios popped up everywhere and they were cheap and easy to do. Lower class people used props to look more wealthy. Photographs of the famous would sell.

“The portrait is therefore a sign whose purpose is both the description of an individual and the inscription of social identity. But at the same time, it is also a commodity, a luxury, an adornment, ownership of which itself confers status.” John Tagg

- identification but also shows where the person is in society
- business card
- collection or memory

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Started in 1840's close to the time photography was invented. Perfect for criminals as it has a direct link to truth. The way they were taken became integral to the way profiles were made.

“What all portraits have in common, in their overlapping and different ways, is the central issue that the portrait is a means employed to establish the identity of a sitter, regardless of whether they are viewed as a social problem or a human being with positive features.” D. Bate (Key Concepts)

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Tell the history of the family. Collected by someone to show to others, inside the family or not. Limited information, require oral narration from family member.

I have lots of family albums at home. Some are physical and some are digital, collection of videos put together. My mum looks after the physical copies and my dad looks after the tapes. They were way more apparent when I was growing up and my parents don't really do them now since everything is way more digital, where all photos can be easily accessed on the phone and online.

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Personalisation on the Internet, results based on what the individual has searched previously. 

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"the dopelganger selves reflected in our media are a lot like, but not exactly, ourselves." Eli Pariser

To me, this perfectly illustrates what has happened to social media today. We use instagram to highlight ourselves in the best possible way, to the point where we all look alike. We adopt the same poses, backgrounds and attitudes to fit the standard we have all forced on ourselves. On social media, we refrain from being who we want to be, and instead we act who we'd like to be seen.

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In self portraits we are much more focussed on the truths and being as real as possible. Otherwise, how would others be able to identify us truthfully. We can show off our attitudes and personality as a form of expression within these. However, in selfies we are highlighting ourselves from the best angles and lighting. We may modify and change how we are perceived.

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I liked the concept of how identity can be split into two. Kind of like who you think you are and how you are actually perceived. One thing that especially stuck out to me was the TED Talk in the recommended reading. I liked the exploration of language and background how they make up your visual identity but not who you really are and doesn't need to define you. It felt relatable to me. Having parents from mixed backgrounds, there were some customs and traditions I was reformed to. However, my life experiences and where I grew up is what really shaped me. This made me think about a question related to being mixed-race and how this can advantage and disadvantage a person in their life experiences. Is it an identity crisis? Do you need to relate to one side more? Does it override who you are?

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This week we looked at the truths behind identity, and how we as people are identified. Straight off the bat we were described how we are recognised. What really intrigued me was the exploration of forensic examples such as tattoos, scars and birthmarks. The specifics of them can be even what separates identical twins. From this I could look at the difference between what shapes our appearance naturally (eye shapes, face shapes, birthmarks) and what we nurture to modify ourselves (makeup, tattoos, piercings, surgery, scars). What further interests me about this is how, in the bigger picture our looks mean nothing, externally we possess our identity through experience, but at the same time they mean and consume so much of us.

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"But I- already an object. I do not struggle. I foresee that I shall have to wake from this bad dream even more uncomfortably; for what society makes of my photograph, what it reads there, I do not know"

"Ultimately what i am seeking in the photograph taken of me..is death. Hence the only thing that I tolerate...is the sound of the camera. What is linked to the trigger of the lens, to the metallic shifting of the plates."

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Representation is the way in which meaning is given to the things depicted.
Images STAND FOR what is being spoken about.

- To re-present something that already exists
- To image
- To depict

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Prisoners were kept in a cave since birth. They never saw the outside world, just the back of a cave. Behind the cave was a fire that caused shadows to be cast on the back wall. They saw shapes of objects like horses and didn't believe the reality when they finally got out.

- Misled reality
- Led to believe something that isn't actually reality

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"We get a sense of our identity from the media we consume. Who you are, who you want to be, how you should act." David Gauntlett.

- How stereotypes form, with labels like gender, race, nationality.

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David Bowie - Heroes

Capitalism: An economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by state.

We're all heroes in Bowies song, because of capitalism we can all be heroes/objects to look up to. His face becoming an object, less of a face attached to a body.

All different alter egos. Recognised the validity in becoming someone else. Image is a commodity, something that can be bought, combined sold.

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"I shop, therefore I am" - Barbara Kruger
It's becoming a commodity. Ethnicity, race, identity. It's become something we use to sell things. It's become a way of cashing in, on the appearance of things being diverse. Two way street between fashion and identity.
Only buying things that interest you, and that makes you who you are.

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Tattoo
Modification
Forensic
Permanent
Substance/Meaning
Representation
Unique
Colouring book

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Should Teachers Have Tattoos? | Loose Women

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Katie Hopkins:
"If you have a tattoo, you have to wonder what sort of future you have ahead of you."
"As an employer I certainly wouldn't employ someone who had tattoos, I would worry what my customers would think about them."
"Socially we still look at tattoos as graffiti"
"When you see tattoos, you think of someone who is just looking for attention"

Should a job be affected by how you look?
Would people emulate celebrities and be encouraged to get tattoos?
Graffiti or body art?

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Katie Hopkins vs Katie Waissel   are tattooed celebs bad role models   This Morning 23 4 13

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Things Not To Say To Someone With Tattoos

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Vulgar and silly.
Celebs with too much money and free time set a terrible example.
What will they look like when they're older and the tattoos are all wrinkled.

Wonderful way to remember someone's life.
Memorable things documented.
Admirable that people are brave enough to make up their mind.
Someone that criticises someone else with tattoos must think they are totally perfect themselves.

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Markings done on the Baiga tribe of Madhya Pradesh. Photos courtesy of Shomil Shah / Utsavi Jhaveri

From permanent jewellery for people who couldn't afford it to markers of social status, the India Ink Archive is documenting the country's rich history of indigenous tattoo traditions.

When Shomil Shah first started developing a fascination for the art of tattooing, his mother told him how he wasn't the first in his family to be intrigued by ink.

"My family is from the Kutch region of Gujarat, India, and my mom remembers that her grandmother, my great grandmother, had these unique tattoos on her arms and neck," the 39-year-old tattoo artist from Mumbai told VICE over the phone.

Though most of us today tend to see tattoos as a form of self-expression, maybe even an indicator of rebellion and a desire to align with the Western world's ideas of freedom and identity, tattooing has in fact been practised by almost every human culture around the world since prehistoric times.

India, too, has had a rich tradition of getting inked, with people using these permanent markings to signify their status, flash their family name, as a sign of belonging to a particular community, a marker for the afterlife, or just because it looked pretty.

"The problem was that there was very little information available about these tattoos and what they meant, since it was more of a spoken tradition passed down from generation to generation, rather than a historically documented one," said Shah, who went looking for tattooing traditions across the country, only to realise how they were not well-documented or archived.

And that's how he came up with the India Ink Archive, a crowdsourced collection of stories that digitally archives and details indigenous tattoo designs from across India.

"I noticed that many old women you would see at the market or train stations also sported tattoos similar to my great grandma's," he said. "So, I began stopping and asking them about it, if they were comfortable talking to me, to understand the meaning behind the tattoos and symbols on their bodies."

Shah gathered information through such conversations with various communities as well as by scouring through historical archives and documentary footage. The idea is to create an online archive to preserve traditions as well as to inspire younger generations who might want to adopt the traditions of their ancestors.

The project is also heavily inspired by other artists who've come before Shah, such as Mo Naga, a Manipur-based artist on a mission to create a "tattoo village" that helps preserve traditional tattoos from tribes from Northeast India, and Emmanuel Guddu, a photographer documenting similar traditions across Pakistan. The project has also been an important tool in combating misinformation around traditional tattoos.

"A Britisher documented the tattoos of the Apatani tribe in the Northeast as a way to make women less desirable, which was incorrect," he explained. "I want to use this platform to accurately represent the diverse communities of India."

From the Kuthia Kondh tribe of Odisha to the Mer tribe of Gujarat or the Todhas of South India, the project has helped Shah discover how each inked symbol carries meaning that sometimes also portrays one's role in society.

"Many of these tattoos were made using a thorn or even a sharp bone as a needle," he said. "The ink is often made by collecting soot from burning vegetable oil, and mixed with breast milk, cow urine or milk for their anti-inflammatory properties."

Shah emphasized that these traditional tattoos relied on indigenous herbs and healing methods, especially for aftercare, in the absence of modern medicine. The tattoos were largely of the stick-and-poke variety and done during the winter months to prevent infections.

"Another common theme we noticed is that women are traditionally more involved in the tattooing community," he added. "They were in charge of tattooing, and it was even seen as a rite of passage. These traditional tattoos were perceived as permanent jewellery that nobody could take from them, even in the afterlife."

In the course of his travels for the project, Shah also discovered how tattoos are often revered in Indigenous communities. One such fascinating group was the Baiga tribe of Madhya Pradesh.

"The forehead tattoos of the Baiga women are the first tattoos that they get at a very young age, and they are a unique mark of being a Baiga," he explained. "They vary slightly from region to region, but the essence of the tattoo always stays the same-a 'V' or crescent shape in the middle with parallel geometric lines running across the forehead on either side. These are typically done when a girl is close to puberty, around 6-10 years of age, and is a mark of entry into adulthood."

During his time with the Baiga tribe, Shah was able to get a tattoo from Mangalabai, a 31-year-old artist from the Badni tribe who has been inking tribal women since she was 13. In turn, his girlfriend also gave Mangalabai's sister her first machine tattoo.

Shah noticed, however, that tattooing was on the decline within the tribe, with some of the younger women choosing to get the tattoos on their foreheads but opting out of getting their hands and legs inked, breaking away from tradition. "When asked if their daughters would get tattooed when they come of age, they said they are not sure."

Shah attributes this decline largely to urbanisation and socio-economic development in these regions, which has in turn led to the stereotype that these markings are primitive or outdated.

In his crowdsourced campaign to document these traditions, Shah also encountered the story of an 89-year-old man named Vithalbhai Joshi, who was originally from Gosa, a small village in Kathiawad, Gujarat. "Vithalbhai has a flower motif on the back of his hand, as well as two bands running around his wrist," he said. "He got these tattoos when he was as young as 5 or 6 years of age. The band around his wrist is supposed to be a ghadiyal (watch). Only the rich or powerful people could afford a real watch back then. So, everyone else got this tattoo, called a Trajva."

Through the India Ink Archive, Shah has also noticed a shift in the country's migration patterns, noting that women from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh often shared the same floral symbology, but referred to it with different names. "We also noticed that the Trajva style that is usually seen in northern Indian states like Rajasthan and Gujarat can also be found in the Sindh province of Pakistan, which is yet another example of how closely linked we are to our neighbouring country."

These Trajva designs use similar motifs and patterns, usually inspired by nature and everyday objects, favouring simplistic line or dot patterns.

Shah discovered that one of the many reasons people chose to get tattoos was also because of its connotation as a status symbol, one that is forbidden to some.

One such instance documented by Shah's crowdsourced project talks about the story of Geeta, a woman from a tribal community who dotted her body with Godna markings, a tribal tattoo characterised by its similarity to ornaments and ritualistic significance. Geeta stood for hours as a young child to get inked, paying for her tattoo with stolen grain. However, her mother felt she was far too young to get a tattoo back then, and had punished her for doing so. Today, Geeta proudly shows off her Godna tattoos, which many in the community believe also bring good health.

But it's not like all tattoos have to have a purpose or mean something deep.

Shah told VICE about Bhagirathi, a woman from Aurangabad, who was part of a community that imprinted the lotus motif on women. Bhagirathi got inked with the lotus symbol, but she was also inspired to come up with her own tattoo: a symbol of a tortoise, which didn't mean much to her tribe, but was just something that she liked.

For Shah, this showed that the idea of every tattoo having some deep meaning is overrated.

"We think of traditional tattoos as these sacred symbols, when the reason for many is that they simply looked pretty," he pointed out. "They, too, wanted to get a tattoo to feel the joy of modifying their body. It's an important reminder that we shouldn't take our tattoos too seriously."

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This Artist Is Trying To Preserve Ancient Tattoo Traditions That Are Dying Out

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Markings done on the Baiga tribe of Madhya Pradesh. Photos courtesy of Shomil Shah / Utsavi Jhaveri From permanent jewellery for people who couldn't afford it to markers of social status, the India Ink Archive is documenting the country's rich history of indigenous tattoo traditions.

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Image by Lia Kantrowitz for VICE.

Ex-gang members and reformed racists are finding redemption in new designs.

Dave Cutlip, like most professional tattoo artists, never inked anyone with anything hateful. It goes against his morals, and it's not good business. Tattoo shops usually leave that dirty work for amateur needlers in garages and prison cells-a de facto protest against the powers of hate. But still, his heart dropped when a man walked into his Baltimore Southside Tattoo storefront, begging to get the gang signs on his face covered up. "Due to the size and location, we couldn't help him," says Cutlip. "The look on the guy's face when we told him that made my wife and myself decide to help other people if we could."

In January, he made a post on the Southside Tattoo Facebook page seeking other prospective clients looking to cover up racist or gang-related tattoos. Cutlip offered his services free of charge, which means a lot when you consider that tattoo removal usually hovers around the $500 mark. "Sometimes people make bad choices," the post read, "and sometimes people change." The response to the post was overwhelming-35,000 likes and 26,000 shares. Cutlip never expected the reach to extend beyond Baltimore. But now, he's standing at the nexus of a bona fide movement in the tattoo industry.

Today, there are dozens of tattoo shops offering the same rehabilitation services as Southside. Erik Rohner runs Ye Old Tattoo Shop in Platteville, Wisconsin-a town deep in the southwestern corner of the state with a population of just 50,000. He expected to average about one or two cases a month when he opened his doors to people with regrettable ink. But in two weeks, the store has already removed four tattoos, with a number of other clients in consultation. "I've been in this business for about 20 years, and back then, it was common to have swastikas and Confederate flags up on the wall-to feed that culture," he says. "Times are changing, and we want to change with it."

Rohner tells me that the attention has been a little overwhelming, but the work is necessary and rewarding. There's not much else you can feel when you're confronted with this kind of shame face-to-face.

"There's one girl I've been communicating with who has a 'Property of' stamp directly on her neck that is gang related," he says. "Usually I tend to keep everyone in line and be impartial, but this girl I put ahead of everyone. We're getting her in sooner. She was young, and taken up by the gang, and hit my heartstrings a little bit. She's a human being; she doesn't 'belong' to anybody."

Through these services, both artists have learned that there are many people who feel trapped in their branded skin. Neither Cutlip nor Rohner expected such a tremendous outpouring, but they've stumbled upon a pretty serious need.One special case Catlip took on is Randy (who asks we keep his last name private), who desperately wanted to cover up the Nazi death head, Iron Cross, and other Aryan Brotherhood insignias from his body.

"I heard about it from my case worker at Healthcare for the Homeless," he says. "It was a relief to not have to look at the Iron Cross every morning. It felt like it allowed me to continue moving forward with changing my life."

"There's a lot of hate out there."

The trip to Southside proved fateful for Randy, who was still homeless when he sought Cutlip's charity. Today he's an apprentice, working under the man who cleansed his skin. " I was living in the trap house, right next to the projects," he says. "Dave and Beth [Dave's wife] were concerned for me, and with my expressed interest in tattooing and drawing, they brought me on at the shop, learning the trade. I feel grateful for the opportunity."

In the wake of all the attention, the Cutlips broke ground on a nonprofit called Redemption Ink-the official name for his racist and gang-related tattoo removal service. Eventually he hopes to build a network of hundreds of parlors across the globe that are all partnered under the same humanitarian premise. "I just think it'd be cool if that was an agreement between tattoo shops," he says. "That is a big part of what we are trying to do with our project. We are trying to get Redemption Ink to spread around the country, and by the fan mail we've gotten from as far away as New Zealand, hopefully the world. There's a lot of hate out there."

The tattoo industry has never been what anyone would call a bastion of social justice. Many shops stay open to 4 AM to lure raucous drunks off their downtown warpath for an early morning mistake. The business model is based on a staunch neutrality-an attitude necessary if you're spending a career carving the occasional stupid or ugly thing into someone's skin. Cutlip's work, and the artists following his footsteps, are interested in changing that narrative. The first line on Redemption Ink's homepage reads that the service makes good on "a dream of Mr. Dave Cutlip to afford humanity 'something' through his beloved craft of tattooing."

Tattoo artists may not be able to offer global peace through tattooing or feed starving children. But they can use their powers to erase old hatreds and put a cause behind their craft.

"I would love to see tattoo parlors start giving back to the community or become a part of the community they're in," says Rohner. "There's too many times where I've worked for somebody else, and all they do is take and take and take from the community and never really give back to those around them. I would love to see this trend grow to the point where the shops become a need to the community."
Follow Luke Winkie on Twitter.

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Tattoo Artists Are Covering Up Racist Ink for Free

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Image by Lia Kantrowitz for VICE. Ex-gang members and reformed racists are finding redemption in new designs. Dave Cutlip, like most professional tattoo artists, never inked anyone with anything hateful. It goes against his morals, and it's not good business.

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History of Tattoos: A Complete Timeline - AuthorityTattoo

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Tattoos have had an amazing and interesting past. We’ll take you through the years so you can see exactly how things progressed, starting from 3100BC.

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Markings done on the Baiga tribe of Madhya Pradesh. Photos courtesy of Shomil Shah / Utsavi Jhaveri

From permanent jewellery for people who couldn't afford it to markers of social status, the India Ink Archive is documenting the country's rich history of indigenous tattoo traditions.

When Shomil Shah first started developing a fascination for the art of tattooing, his mother told him how he wasn't the first in his family to be intrigued by ink.

"My family is from the Kutch region of Gujarat, India, and my mom remembers that her grandmother, my great grandmother, had these unique tattoos on her arms and neck," the 39-year-old tattoo artist from Mumbai told VICE over the phone.

Though most of us today tend to see tattoos as a form of self-expression, maybe even an indicator of rebellion and a desire to align with the Western world's ideas of freedom and identity, tattooing has in fact been practised by almost every human culture around the world since prehistoric times.

India, too, has had a rich tradition of getting inked, with people using these permanent markings to signify their status, flash their family name, as a sign of belonging to a particular community, a marker for the afterlife, or just because it looked pretty.

"The problem was that there was very little information available about these tattoos and what they meant, since it was more of a spoken tradition passed down from generation to generation, rather than a historically documented one," said Shah, who went looking for tattooing traditions across the country, only to realise how they were not well-documented or archived.

And that's how he came up with the India Ink Archive, a crowdsourced collection of stories that digitally archives and details indigenous tattoo designs from across India.

"I noticed that many old women you would see at the market or train stations also sported tattoos similar to my great grandma's," he said. "So, I began stopping and asking them about it, if they were comfortable talking to me, to understand the meaning behind the tattoos and symbols on their bodies."

Shah gathered information through such conversations with various communities as well as by scouring through historical archives and documentary footage. The idea is to create an online archive to preserve traditions as well as to inspire younger generations who might want to adopt the traditions of their ancestors.

The project is also heavily inspired by other artists who've come before Shah, such as Mo Naga, a Manipur-based artist on a mission to create a "tattoo village" that helps preserve traditional tattoos from tribes from Northeast India, and Emmanuel Guddu, a photographer documenting similar traditions across Pakistan. The project has also been an important tool in combating misinformation around traditional tattoos.

"A Britisher documented the tattoos of the Apatani tribe in the Northeast as a way to make women less desirable, which was incorrect," he explained. "I want to use this platform to accurately represent the diverse communities of India."

From the Kuthia Kondh tribe of Odisha to the Mer tribe of Gujarat or the Todhas of South India, the project has helped Shah discover how each inked symbol carries meaning that sometimes also portrays one's role in society.

"Many of these tattoos were made using a thorn or even a sharp bone as a needle," he said. "The ink is often made by collecting soot from burning vegetable oil, and mixed with breast milk, cow urine or milk for their anti-inflammatory properties."

Shah emphasized that these traditional tattoos relied on indigenous herbs and healing methods, especially for aftercare, in the absence of modern medicine. The tattoos were largely of the stick-and-poke variety and done during the winter months to prevent infections.

"Another common theme we noticed is that women are traditionally more involved in the tattooing community," he added. "They were in charge of tattooing, and it was even seen as a rite of passage. These traditional tattoos were perceived as permanent jewellery that nobody could take from them, even in the afterlife."

In the course of his travels for the project, Shah also discovered how tattoos are often revered in Indigenous communities. One such fascinating group was the Baiga tribe of Madhya Pradesh.

"The forehead tattoos of the Baiga women are the first tattoos that they get at a very young age, and they are a unique mark of being a Baiga," he explained. "They vary slightly from region to region, but the essence of the tattoo always stays the same-a 'V' or crescent shape in the middle with parallel geometric lines running across the forehead on either side. These are typically done when a girl is close to puberty, around 6-10 years of age, and is a mark of entry into adulthood."

During his time with the Baiga tribe, Shah was able to get a tattoo from Mangalabai, a 31-year-old artist from the Badni tribe who has been inking tribal women since she was 13. In turn, his girlfriend also gave Mangalabai's sister her first machine tattoo.

Shah noticed, however, that tattooing was on the decline within the tribe, with some of the younger women choosing to get the tattoos on their foreheads but opting out of getting their hands and legs inked, breaking away from tradition. "When asked if their daughters would get tattooed when they come of age, they said they are not sure."

Shah attributes this decline largely to urbanisation and socio-economic development in these regions, which has in turn led to the stereotype that these markings are primitive or outdated.

In his crowdsourced campaign to document these traditions, Shah also encountered the story of an 89-year-old man named Vithalbhai Joshi, who was originally from Gosa, a small village in Kathiawad, Gujarat. "Vithalbhai has a flower motif on the back of his hand, as well as two bands running around his wrist," he said. "He got these tattoos when he was as young as 5 or 6 years of age. The band around his wrist is supposed to be a ghadiyal (watch). Only the rich or powerful people could afford a real watch back then. So, everyone else got this tattoo, called a Trajva."

Through the India Ink Archive, Shah has also noticed a shift in the country's migration patterns, noting that women from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh often shared the same floral symbology, but referred to it with different names. "We also noticed that the Trajva style that is usually seen in northern Indian states like Rajasthan and Gujarat can also be found in the Sindh province of Pakistan, which is yet another example of how closely linked we are to our neighbouring country."

These Trajva designs use similar motifs and patterns, usually inspired by nature and everyday objects, favouring simplistic line or dot patterns.

Shah discovered that one of the many reasons people chose to get tattoos was also because of its connotation as a status symbol, one that is forbidden to some.

One such instance documented by Shah's crowdsourced project talks about the story of Geeta, a woman from a tribal community who dotted her body with Godna markings, a tribal tattoo characterised by its similarity to ornaments and ritualistic significance. Geeta stood for hours as a young child to get inked, paying for her tattoo with stolen grain. However, her mother felt she was far too young to get a tattoo back then, and had punished her for doing so. Today, Geeta proudly shows off her Godna tattoos, which many in the community believe also bring good health.

But it's not like all tattoos have to have a purpose or mean something deep.

Shah told VICE about Bhagirathi, a woman from Aurangabad, who was part of a community that imprinted the lotus motif on women. Bhagirathi got inked with the lotus symbol, but she was also inspired to come up with her own tattoo: a symbol of a tortoise, which didn't mean much to her tribe, but was just something that she liked.

For Shah, this showed that the idea of every tattoo having some deep meaning is overrated.

"We think of traditional tattoos as these sacred symbols, when the reason for many is that they simply looked pretty," he pointed out. "They, too, wanted to get a tattoo to feel the joy of modifying their body. It's an important reminder that we shouldn't take our tattoos too seriously."

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This Artist Is Trying To Preserve Ancient Tattoo Traditions That Are Dying Out

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Markings done on the Baiga tribe of Madhya Pradesh. Photos courtesy of Shomil Shah / Utsavi Jhaveri From permanent jewellery for people who couldn't afford it to markers of social status, the India Ink Archive is documenting the country's rich history of indigenous tattoo traditions.

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Each collector has their own story, experiences and ways of expressing their love for tattoos. Some adorn their bodies with delicate micro tattoos while others go balls to the wall with a bold Japanese bodysuit. Mei Pang has chosen all black-and-grey work for her collection and what sets her apart from most collectors is she's decided to make her collection completely symmetrical. Each tattoo is mirrored by an identical mate, a decision Pang made early in her collecting journey. We sat down with Pang to learn about her affinity toward symmetry, who she's been tattooed by and which tattoo hurt the most.

What was your first memory seeing a tattoo and did you envision yourself becoming heavily tattooed?

I think the first time I saw tattoos was on MySpace. I was a wannabe scene kid, so seeing all these tattoos stuck in my head. I always loved makeup, piercings and doing fun things with my hair, so in my mind, tattoos were the next step. However, that being said, I never thought that I would be as tattooed as I am now. I went into my journey just wanting a couple, but now here I am with almost 80.

What was your first tattoo and what's the story behind it?

My first tattoo is a chrysanthemum on my stomach. I read somewhere that the sternum/stomach area was the worst place to get tattooed, so I thought I'd go there first just to get that spot over with. I thought, "Oh, I'll get the worst done first and then everything else will be a piece of cake." That's probably the biggest lie I've ever told myself. There are much more painful spots than that. I chose the chrysanthemum to symbolize my parents. What's more safe of a choice than to get something that reminds you of family?

Why have you chosen to make your tattoo collection symmetrical? Could you see yourself getting a tattoo on one side of your body and not the other?

After getting my stomach done, I realized how much I like being "centered." My second tattoo is on my bicep and after I got it done, I realized how off it looked, so I booked my next tattoo to get it mirrored the next day. 80 tattoos later and I'm still completely symmetrical. I toy with the idea of doing just one tattoo on one side, but that's just not who I am right now. However, never say never, right?

What tattoo on your body gets the most attention and why do you think this is?

Definitely my "I am the Antichrist to You" tattoo that's smack dab in the middle of my collarbones. It's a hard tattoo to cover up so not only is it a "controversial" subject, it's the first thing people tend to notice. People are very quick to judge that tattoo (which is totally understandable) but they don't realize that it's a reference to heartbreak and an homage to Kishi Bashi's song "I am the Antichrist to You." That tattoo gets the most attention online, but I would have to say that my most noticed tattoo when I'm out is the praying mantis' on the side of my head as that's what I get most comments on when I'm out doing errands.

Why have you chosen to get all of your tattoos in black-and-grey? Would you ever consider getting a color tattoo?

As much as I'm impulsive, I try to make the best decisions for myself. I always considered black-and-grey the safe choice, as I won't ever get tired of those tones. I'm considering getting a red tattoo, as they're absolutely stunning. But I think I'm too far into my collection and a red tattoo would look very stark. It's all about balance!

How would you describe the style of tattoos you collect? What appeals to you about this style?

I don't really think I fit in any certain style. However, I've been placed in the "ignorant tattoo" style the most. I think I look like a fridge with a bunch of magnets on it and I enjoy that thought. I have styles ranging from handpushed tattoos all the way to traditional. I don't think I've ever gravitated towards a certain style. I'm of the strong belief that if you think it's cute and it makes you happy, you should get it!

When did you start tattooing your hands, neck and face? How has this impacted the way you're treated by strangers on the street?

I've had my neck, head and hands tattooed for a couple of years. I've had multiple experiences with strangers, ranging from them taking my photo without my permission and posting on ink shaming groups, to coming up to me to ask questions out of sheer curiosity. I've had people move away from me and try to avoid me. I understand that I look a little different and people have their snap reactions to me, but take solace in the fact that myself and that person who is judging me probably have something in common. It's interesting to see people have these reactions to me because I feel so... normal?

Who are the artists you've been tattooed by and what drew you to them?

My main tattoo artist is Corben Matsell-Savage. I've been going to him for the past half a decade and he's amazing. He truly believes in my aesthetic, his artistry is fantastic and he creates such an amazing tattoo experience every single time. I met him through mutual friends and have stuck around ever since. I've also been tattooed by Melina Mansing who is one of my best friends and has given me such an appreciation for handpushed tattoos.

Who are some of your favorite artists that you hope to get work from in the future?

I've always looked up to Grace Neutral and Johnny Gloom. To get tattooed by such powerful women would be a dream to me.

What was your most painful tattoo? What about your least painful?

Most painful: Head, stomach and my butt.

Least painful: Hands, arms, and chest.

Do you have any tattoo regrets? Would you consider removing or covering a tattoo?

Yes, I have one tattoo "regret." I was young, didn't research the tattoo shop and didn't have a voice, so I just went with it. I ended up leaving with a poorly done tattoo that was definitely a learning lesson. I want to add more to the tattoo rather than cover it up, because as much as it's a whack tattoo, it's a part of me and it was a turning point to my future of tattoos.

What tattoos do you hope to get tattooed in the future?

I have plans to get Icarus (mirrored on each shoulder blade). Everything about that story has stuck with me my entire life and I absolutely adore that imagery.

Do you think tattoos need to have meanings, yes or no?

Absolutely not. Get whatever you like. For example, I got butterflies on my arms purely because I thought it looked pretty and why not get pretty things on your body? Butterflies have no meaning to me but looking at them on my body makes me happy.

If you woke up with only one tattoo on your body, what would you like it to be?

Is it cheating if I say a full traditional Japanese bodysuit?

What else should our readers know about you as a tattoo collector?

My tattoos have made me feel the most myself. My body is my home and I feel safe.

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This Collector Has a Fully Symmetrical Bodysuit

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Each collector has their own story, experiences and ways of expressing their love for tattoos. Some adorn their bodies with delicate micro tattoos while others go balls to the wall with a bold Japanese bodysuit. Mei Pang has chosen all black-and-grey work for her collection and what sets her apart from most collectors is she's decided to make her collection completely symmetrical.

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Image by Lia Kantrowitz for VICE.

Ex-gang members and reformed racists are finding redemption in new designs.

Dave Cutlip, like most professional tattoo artists, never inked anyone with anything hateful. It goes against his morals, and it's not good business. Tattoo shops usually leave that dirty work for amateur needlers in garages and prison cells-a de facto protest against the powers of hate. But still, his heart dropped when a man walked into his Baltimore Southside Tattoo storefront, begging to get the gang signs on his face covered up. "Due to the size and location, we couldn't help him," says Cutlip. "The look on the guy's face when we told him that made my wife and myself decide to help other people if we could."

In January, he made a post on the Southside Tattoo Facebook page seeking other prospective clients looking to cover up racist or gang-related tattoos. Cutlip offered his services free of charge, which means a lot when you consider that tattoo removal usually hovers around the $500 mark. "Sometimes people make bad choices," the post read, "and sometimes people change." The response to the post was overwhelming-35,000 likes and 26,000 shares. Cutlip never expected the reach to extend beyond Baltimore. But now, he's standing at the nexus of a bona fide movement in the tattoo industry.

Today, there are dozens of tattoo shops offering the same rehabilitation services as Southside. Erik Rohner runs Ye Old Tattoo Shop in Platteville, Wisconsin-a town deep in the southwestern corner of the state with a population of just 50,000. He expected to average about one or two cases a month when he opened his doors to people with regrettable ink. But in two weeks, the store has already removed four tattoos, with a number of other clients in consultation. "I've been in this business for about 20 years, and back then, it was common to have swastikas and Confederate flags up on the wall-to feed that culture," he says. "Times are changing, and we want to change with it."

Rohner tells me that the attention has been a little overwhelming, but the work is necessary and rewarding. There's not much else you can feel when you're confronted with this kind of shame face-to-face.

"There's one girl I've been communicating with who has a 'Property of' stamp directly on her neck that is gang related," he says. "Usually I tend to keep everyone in line and be impartial, but this girl I put ahead of everyone. We're getting her in sooner. She was young, and taken up by the gang, and hit my heartstrings a little bit. She's a human being; she doesn't 'belong' to anybody."

Through these services, both artists have learned that there are many people who feel trapped in their branded skin. Neither Cutlip nor Rohner expected such a tremendous outpouring, but they've stumbled upon a pretty serious need.One special case Catlip took on is Randy (who asks we keep his last name private), who desperately wanted to cover up the Nazi death head, Iron Cross, and other Aryan Brotherhood insignias from his body.

"I heard about it from my case worker at Healthcare for the Homeless," he says. "It was a relief to not have to look at the Iron Cross every morning. It felt like it allowed me to continue moving forward with changing my life."

"There's a lot of hate out there."

The trip to Southside proved fateful for Randy, who was still homeless when he sought Cutlip's charity. Today he's an apprentice, working under the man who cleansed his skin. " I was living in the trap house, right next to the projects," he says. "Dave and Beth [Dave's wife] were concerned for me, and with my expressed interest in tattooing and drawing, they brought me on at the shop, learning the trade. I feel grateful for the opportunity."

In the wake of all the attention, the Cutlips broke ground on a nonprofit called Redemption Ink-the official name for his racist and gang-related tattoo removal service. Eventually he hopes to build a network of hundreds of parlors across the globe that are all partnered under the same humanitarian premise. "I just think it'd be cool if that was an agreement between tattoo shops," he says. "That is a big part of what we are trying to do with our project. We are trying to get Redemption Ink to spread around the country, and by the fan mail we've gotten from as far away as New Zealand, hopefully the world. There's a lot of hate out there."

The tattoo industry has never been what anyone would call a bastion of social justice. Many shops stay open to 4 AM to lure raucous drunks off their downtown warpath for an early morning mistake. The business model is based on a staunch neutrality-an attitude necessary if you're spending a career carving the occasional stupid or ugly thing into someone's skin. Cutlip's work, and the artists following his footsteps, are interested in changing that narrative. The first line on Redemption Ink's homepage reads that the service makes good on "a dream of Mr. Dave Cutlip to afford humanity 'something' through his beloved craft of tattooing."

Tattoo artists may not be able to offer global peace through tattooing or feed starving children. But they can use their powers to erase old hatreds and put a cause behind their craft.

"I would love to see tattoo parlors start giving back to the community or become a part of the community they're in," says Rohner. "There's too many times where I've worked for somebody else, and all they do is take and take and take from the community and never really give back to those around them. I would love to see this trend grow to the point where the shops become a need to the community."
Follow Luke Winkie on Twitter.

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Tattoo Artists Are Covering Up Racist Ink for Free

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Image by Lia Kantrowitz for VICE. Ex-gang members and reformed racists are finding redemption in new designs. Dave Cutlip, like most professional tattoo artists, never inked anyone with anything hateful. It goes against his morals, and it's not good business.

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Their meaning is more than just skin deep.

Interesting fact: Most of Mei Pang 's tattoos are symmetrical. "I tell people that what you see on one side of my body, you see on the other side," comments the Toronto-based makeup artist and beauty influencer. How many body stamps does the 23-year-old have in total? About 80.

Pang's earliest tattoo, a large chrysanthemum located on the middle of her stomach that was inked when she was the fresh age of 18, was inspired by Rihanna's giant tat of the Egyptian goddess Isis on her sternum. "I was always into hair, makeup and piercings, so I feel like tattoos, for me, were the next natural transition," says Pang.

In her mind as a first-timer, the bigger the ink job the more braced she'd be down the road. "I thought it would essentially prep me for the rest of the tattoos I wanted to get in my life-that the others were going to be an absolute piece of cake," she says. But having since gone on to ink a running list of areas, like her head, neck and butt, Pang was dead wrong. "That was a terrible lie I told myself," she laughs.

Most of Pang's skin art has been done by Toronto tattoo artist Corben Matsell-Savage, and her most recent-a pair of panthers, one on each side of her belly button, encircling a spiderweb-ended up being her most painful to date. "They're maybe a little less than a foot in size, and when I got them done, Corben was like, 'Wow, it's like riding in a rodeo! You won't stop moving,'" reminisces Pang. The single-session time for her panthers? Three and a half hours.

As painful as tattoos can be, you can't compare this to self-acceptance. "It's just who I am. I feel the most comfortable with being bald and having tattoos," says Pang. Her positive, self-loving attitude is a total switch-up from her pre-tattoo years growing up in her hometown of Oakville, Ont. "It was a very Caucasian town," remembers Pang. "It was literally me and maybe two other minorities in my high school." As a result, outside pressures weighed heavily on her sense of self. "Before, I thought, 'Oh, the longer the hair the more pretty you are.' I had hair all the way down to my hips," she says. "I tried to really give in to Western standards of beauty."

Thankfully, her take-control body ink has allowed Pang to affirm a very empowering concept. "I have never felt prettier, which has made me learn that people have their own definitions of beauty," she declares. "Being bald and covered in tattoos has opened my eyes to just accepting that there are more ways than one to be beautiful."

As for the most meaningful ink that decorates her body, Pang references the symbols located around her shoulders and above, like the Chinese dragon atop her head to celebrate her Asian heritage. The precious zone is also home to her most controversial tattoo: The words "I am the antichrist to you" are stamped between her collarbones. The marking has helped the openly bisexual artist navigate- and conquer-heartbreak, which she experienced with her first love, a girl who was also her best friend throughout high school. Near the end of their senior year, Pang professed her feelings. "I told her, 'Low-key, high-key, wherever you go, I'll go with you because I'm in love with you,'" she shares. "She just told me: 'This is sinful. You need to get out! This is Satan tempting you.' She essentially called me the Antichrist." But Pang isn't looking for sympathy, because the marking has a pleasing double meaning. "It's also the name of a really beautiful song from Japanese-American artist Kishi Bashi."

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Mei Pang on How Her Tattoos Send a Powerful Message of Self-Liberation

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Their meaning is more than just skin deep. Interesting fact: Most of Mei Pang 's tattoos are symmetrical. "I tell people that what you see on one side of my body, you see on the other side," comments the Toronto-based makeup artist and beauty influencer. How many body stamps does the 23-year-old have in total?

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Ancient ink: Iceman Otzi has the world’s oldest tattoos

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The debate about the world’s oldest tattoos is over.