Tattooing has a long history within many cultures as a right of passage and a mark of belonging. Over the last 100 years tattoo culture has experienced a major shift into the mainstream, David McComb documents this shift in his book, 100 Years of Tattoos.
McComb has put together a collection of images documenting the rise of tattoos from the freak show into the mainstream. The book starts in 1914, during World War 1 when American servicemen got tattooed to show their patriotism.
The book is largely made up of around 300 personal and archival photographs with small captions, making it different to other tattoo books.
“Although the development of body art in the West is pretty well-documented, finding images to illustrate the story I wanted to tell was a huge challenge.”
David McComb is the former editor of alternative magazine Bizarre, which closed earlier this year. 100 Years of Tattoos set to be published by Laurence King Publishing in September, you can get more information here.
[Via.]
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