Tattoo You

Zealand Tattoo, Christchurch. Jan 2009. Ajr

I am intrigued by tattoos. I'd be far too much of a sissy to get one myself but that doesn't stop me ogling everyone else's. In my head, they're in the same filing cabinet as street art, graffiti and body piercing - all those ever-so-slightly grungy 'arts' that are frowned upon (by many) yet say so much about a whole subset of our culture. I am particularly keen on this window display at Christchurch's Zealand Tattoo, which gives us a little bit of everything - from a bronze Chinese lion and a robot to funky lights, colourful cabinets and a flirtatiously 'tattooed' mannequin. It was all too much. I HAD to stop and take a photograph. www.zealandtattoo.co.nz