Tattoos Design
Source:- Google.com.pkLAW REGARDING THE PRACTICE OF TATTOOING
What follows after this introduction is an interview I conducted with Henry Harris, an Orthodox Rabbi who is the Educational Director of the Aish Center in Manhattan. His credentials in the Jewish world are quite remarkable and it is important to note that he comes from an observant and traditional community.
However, do not allow the term "traditional" (or the beard) to be limiting here. In the midst of this interview process as well as in preceding and follow-up conversations, Rabbi Harris or, as he prefers to be called, Henry proved himself a worldly and thoughtful individual, open to learning just as much as he is to teaching.
Since I first approached him, Rabbi Harris has been respectful of my personal tattoo choices and eager to share his thoughts with a community of curious individuals. There is a lot of misinformation about the Jewish beliefs regarding tattoos. Some of what follows was news to me and I was, personally, corrected of mistakes in my understanding.
Learning is a proud, Jewish tradition and I am happy to be a conduit between the Rabbi and the readers.
Greetings, Rabbi Harris. Let's begin at the ending. If you are tattooed, can you be buried in a Jewish cemetery?
Absolutely. Getting a tattoo in Jewish wisdom is viewed as a no-no, a lack of awe of the masterpiece called our body. It's not grounds for divorce [from Judaism]-- especially not from the Jewish people.
Visit Matt Hoyle's site to see his collection of portrait photography featuring active sideshow performers and other "circus freaks."
Writers are often told that editing is a far superior skill to actual writing. Most art can learn from this lesson. As these individuals are such unique and interesting characters in their own right, Matt does a terrific job in editing out any photographic editorializing and capturing the naked essence of his subjects.
These performers are artists, entertainers and individuals who, like tattoo collectors, utilize their bodies in ways beyond the comprehension of normative society. I felt a spiritual and aesthetic kinship to Matt's subjects that I did not realize before being placed face to face with them.
The first book ever on the tattoo legend.
I'll have Takahiro 'Taki' Kitamura, publisher of the book (and renowned tattoo artist), tell ya:
The man, the myth, the legend: Bob Roberts. Few people have had the impact on tattooing that Bob Roberts has. His sheer artistic genius is sublime, and his biography reads the same way. For over thirty years he has been part of the vanguard of talented tattoo artists who, unbeknownst to them at the time, have pushed tattooing from a craft to an art form.
The list of artists Bob has worked alongside reads like a star-studded who's who of the tattoo artist hall of fame, of which Bob would no doubt be a member if such a thing existed. He apprenticed with Colonel Todd and Bob Shaw at the infamous Pike and then worked alongside Cliff Raven, Greg Irons, Paul Rogers, Jack Rudy and Don Ed Hardy. His own shop, Spotlight Tattoo, continues to house a roster of talented artists bent on following in Bob's footsteps.
Bob's creative genius is not limited to tattooing and painting, he is also an accomplished musician. His musical career reads much the same as his tattoo resume. Bob has played with Ruben and the Jets, Hot Tuna, The Offs, New York Dolls, Johnny Thunders, to name a few. His life has been 'rock and roll' as well; Frisco, New York, LA, Europe, Japan, Bob has done the world tour.
He's also ridden across most of the United States on a Harley, and he's 'ridden it like he stole it.' That is how Bob lives his life, and his artwork reflects it.
But the thing that stands out the most to me about Bob is his persona. Ungovernable, fiercely independent, Bob does not compromise.... He does it HIS way. And thankfully for us, Bob Roberts has forever changed tattooing for the better.
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