There is a failry commonly held perception of tattoo parlors, by many of the untattooed, of these businesses as places where criminals, biker gang members, drug addicts etc. hang out, and all manner of nefariousness is going on in the background. The flip side is that while there some pretty crappy tattoos out there, some are some I’ve seen that are extraordinary pieces of art and show level of graphic talent that’s not going to be possessed by anyone who is not very serious about their craft, which doesn’t really square to people living on the edges of society.
Does this commonly held perception of tattoo parlors as lowlife hangouts have any basis in fact?
Nahhh, not so much anymore. Tattoo has gone pretty mainstream, and most tattooists are artist/businessmen who want to turn a buck, not score heroin.
There are still some sleazy tattoo parlors (most modern tattooists prefer the term “studios”), but they tend to be in the areas of town where hookers, druggies, sleazeballs and hardcore bikers congregate. If you get offered drugs or a blowjob, chances are it’s not a very good tattoo joint.
I’d say “no” as well. My sister is quite happy with the fact that my 10-year-old niece’s best friend is the daughter of our town’s most popular tattoo artist. She likes it because my niece tends to be quite self-centered and inconsiderate, and the tattoo artist’s daughter is an extremely well-mannered, polite, considerate girl who is not shy about chewing my niece’s butt when she acts selfish or says mean things to other kids. In other words, she provides positive peer pressure
Yes. It’s highly dependent on how the shop is run, though. Years ago, I choose the most reputable parlor in my city to get work done. While I’m getting inked, a guy comes in off the street and heads to the restroom. After he’s in there for quite a long time, the artist working on me has another artist go check. The guy was shooting up in the restroom. They kicked him out as quickly as possible and with the appropriate amount of disgust, but the point is this guy thought the tattoo parlor would be the place to shoot up.
A few years before that, while accompanying my friend to a very seedy parlor in a seedier city, we got to listen to one side of a phone conversation from a customer. She wanted the tattoo artist to give her a tattoo of pubic hair (she’d shaved). After the artist named his price, she wanted to pay “half in cash and half in trade”.
“Trade what,” the artist asked. Sex. She would fuck him X number of times to pay off the rest. Blegh. The guy said no, but these places still attract some dregs, even if they’re trying to be professional.
The many, many tattoo studios I’ve been in were extremely clean, professional places.
There are certainly still scratcher parlors out there where unsavory types may hang out, especially given that tattooing was not that long ago much more marginalized, but just as tattooing is no longer solely the domain of “lowlifes,” neither are the studios where tattooing is performed. I’ve been in studios that felt like doctors offices, I’ve been in studios that felt like quirky boutiques, I’ve been in studios that felt like a nice barber shop. Same goes for places to get pierced; the one I favor feels an awful lot like a very clean and friendly dentists office, albeit the posters on the wall are relating to suspension and not oral hygene. But I’ve seen lousy ones that look more like a gross basement inhabited by idiot teenagers, and others that are more along the lines of a fancy day spa.
