Tattoo by Dave C. Wallin from Eight of Swords Tattoo. Photographer Briscoe Savoy 2008
By Elvire Camus & Arnaud Aubry
Tattoos everywhere. On every arm, calf, neck, and back. On boys and on girls. Not only a tiny butterfly on a wrist or a “Mum” etched on a shoulder, but whole sleeves and chests covered with Japanese or traditional American tattoos. That’s what the “hipsters” of Williamsburg/Greenpoint proudly display as they stroll along the streets of their neighborhood. But not only hipsters. This phenomenon now decorates a much wider slice of the population, including lawyers, bankers, doctors, and cops. Interviews with tattoo artists, teachers, residents, and sociologists helped us to understand that tattoos—formerly for those on the margins—are now the new aesthetic for North Brooklyn.
Photo by Philippe Theise
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