Today kicked off the start of one of the largest and most popular tattoo conventions in the country - the Philadelphia Tattoo Convention. Some attendees showed off both old and new tattoos, while others bore their skin for some fresh new ink. Over 200 world famous tattoo artists will be at the Pennsylvania Convention Center all weekend long. Doors open from 11 AM - 12 AM on Saturday, February 9th, and from 11 AM - 8 PM on Sunday, February 10th.Â
Comments (36)
A great way to make yourself look like yesterday's news. A lot of us grew up in the 'hood. Most of us, however, had the common sense not to forever remove any doubt about our origins. First rule of upward mobility: don't go around looking as if you learned to read while in prison. Can you imagine how a Michael Jackson tattoo would be received today? Well, that's how people will react to yours twenty or thirty years from now.- for me, tattoos are not my cup of tea. i do not have one as i really cant think of a tattoo i could get today and still like it 10 years from now. however, thats just me. i have no problem with the indulgence of others in the art of tattooing. its their bodies and they reserve the right to adorn or decorate their body in whatever way they like. also, i find it to be a very cool and interesting art as i admire the skill and creativity of tattoo artists.
— theeducator - orange rhino: not all of us are people who cannot commit to something. we are not all chameleon's that abandon and shun our own past. tattoos tell a story of your life. and the overwhelming majority of tattooed individuals have absolutely no regrets. we don't change our opinions based on the tides of popular opinion are the particular moment. being tattooed is not associated with "the hood" or prison. tattooed people come from all over and from almost every culture on earth.— Ryan
- Father Time is the best tattoo artist. He's sure to paint any number of oddly shaped splotches on your skin, and he works for free.— Weightman
- Good one, very wise observation. — TEDcGEGI
- This comment has been deleted.— Santa Satan
- Santa Satan — Not true. No body art can do that. In fact, that's just going to make them look worse. — URANIUM235
- I'm not sure why some people find it so hard to grasp that this is purely subjective -- there's no "right" or "wrong" answer about whether tattoos make someone more or less attractive.
As a woman with visible tattoos, I know that some people find them a turn-off, some people find them a turn-on. Similarly, I find men with tattoos significantly more physically attractive then men without. It's just a matter of personal taste.— DoubleEmMartin - @Ryan--But they all have at least one thing in common: bad judgment. As for the chameleon charge--Bill Clinton told Americans that lifetime learning is the key to the future. When you stop growing, your mind starts dying. The tattoo is sort of a mental death certificate that tells everybody they are dealing with a person who is never going to be any better than he or she is this minute. In other words, tatted up people are assembly line in a computer information age. @Santa--Or a 9 into a 6.— orange rhino
- "...mental death certificate that tells everybody they are dealing with a person who is never going to be any better than he or she is this minute."
What drugs to you take to come up with looney-toons tearoies like that? Do you really not know that there are successful, highly educated, professional people with tattoos? (George Schulz, former Secretary of State, for one, with a Princeton tiger tattoo). At what point did he stop getting better? as Dean of the Univ. of Chicago School of Business? As president of Bechtel Corp? As professor of Economics at MIT? As Sec. of Labor? Not that I'm any fan of his.
Or have you accomplished so much in your life that people like him pale in comparison to you?
You're just talking to hear yourself talk, aren't you?
Muggles, jeez.— Tatt2 - I am a doctor and I have tattoos, it's never been a problem.— ConverseB24
- It makes me wonder what the chick in the picture does for a living. I doubt she works in an office. Can you imagine being in a hospital and calling for a nurse and THAT walks into the room?! Do you think she'll be happy about her tattoos when she turns 40? I had a perm back in the early 80s when it was fashionable and I got my ear pierced right when straight guys started doing it. But the perm grew out decades ago and the hole in my ear closed up too. But the tats are permanent.
— TexColorado - Can you imagine a nurse walking in to take care of a patient who is more concerned with how she looks than her skill at performing her job.
The simple truth is that many people with tattoos are highly skilled and can openly show their work because their skills are in high demand. The people who can't show a tattoo at work are the ones who have little skill and could be easily replaced.
If you can loose your job simply for having a tattoo then maybe you should spend more time working on your skill set and less time pretending that these people are somehow beneath you.— barlowjames1 - When people find out that I was in the service (the Marines) a long time ago. one of the first questions young people ask me is, Did you get a tattoo?
My response is always the same: I never got that drunk.— marat - @Tatt2---I'll bet you have a big one across your neck. Since you started naming names, why don't you list all the famous people with tats? It shouldn't require a great deal of space.— orange rhino
- Why do you people care about who gets tattooed and what it symbolizes? Tattoos are not about getting them to feel attention but its a way of expressing themselves and of other works of art on their body as a canvas. In other words, if thats how you feel @ Section_Ape it is kinda like you posting on here for attention right? OH and on that note... if a girl with pink hair and tattoos has the education and is qualified enough to be a nurse and walks into your hospital room and saves YOUR life, I am sure you won't be questioning the pieces of work on her body compared to the education and knowledge she has to save your life @ TexColorado. Just ask yourself WHY DO YOU REALLY CARE & why waste all of your energry into posting rude and unrelated comments about tattooed people.— PHD_TATT
- Why do you people care about who gets tattooed and what it symbolizes? Tattoos are not about getting them to feel attention but its a way of expressing themselves and of other works of art on their body as a canvas. In other words, if thats how you feel @ Section_Ape it is kinda like you posting on here for attention right? OH and on that note... if a girl with pink hair and tattoos has the education and is qualified enough to be a nurse and walks into your hospital room and saves YOUR life, I am sure you won't be questioning the pieces of work on her body compared to the education and knowledge she has to save your life @ TexColorado. Just ask yourself WHY DO YOU REALLY CARE & why waste all of your energry into posting rude and unrelated comments about tattooed people.— PHD_TATT
- Free country, thank goodness. Though I suppose that entitles all of you self-righteous biddies to weigh in on how / why / when people should be allowed to express themselves. @PHD-TATT: Good post by you. Glad it showed it up twice for emphasis.— Paul G
- I admire the artwork, but wonder about the wisdom of deliberately putting all those dyes and heavy metals in one's body. We have enough junk in our environment for our bodies to deal with, without adding to the body burden even further, methinks.— dianesfp
- I expect that there will be a lot of tramps with tramp stamps at the convention. Women with tattoos look disgusting. They are all wannabe bikers or sailors.— Sportyrider71
- speak for yourself sportyrider, I love women with tattoos. the more the better.— Ryan
- @Converse B24: I'm a physician also. I've got 7 tattoo and they all have a deep personal meaning. Was never intoxicated while having it done. Always took 2-3 years while designing, working with various artists, etc.... You won't see any of them while I wear my scrubs; but I am itching to get my first forearm sleeve sometime soon. Some of my patients know me from the gym or running, and they asked to see. Never had one complaint. If you don't want a tattoo, don't get one. But don't put down a group of people cuz they have them....open your mind......— GuamDoc
- So what's next when people run out of real estate on their skin for more tatts, and all their outward extremities they can pierce and modify are taken too? Will people start getting their internal organs pierced? Or have their skin removed over their stomachs, replaced by a see-though polymer so people can see their guts? Or will unnecessary amputations be the next step of hipster evolution? Once can only wonder. When there's no "edge" left and a person's entire body has been mutilated to the point of absurdity, will looking like a normal person, unmodified, be cool again?— Mr_Cool
- The only difference between those that are tattooed (as I am) and those that are not is that those of us who enjoy the art of tattooing don't feel the need to comment if you aren't tattooed but those who don't like the art feel the need to judge. I work in a professional setting where my tattoos are all covered during my work day. No one but those I choose to share my art with can see.— kramar72
- WT event— ..Jay Grace
- It's a holdover tribal tradition from before civilization took root. For the most part it's a harmless distraction for the less evolved among us. I personally wouldn't have one for the same reason that I don't wear a flashing neon sign that says "Look at me. I'm such a dirt bag".— jgalt52
- Oh the power of computer muscles. All that Atlas-like strength behind Mommy's monitor and keyboard. Here is the thing...we all get to make choices in life...PERIOD. If you prefer to not have tattoos...so be it. But I dare you to have the balls to go into a tattoo shop and say "people with tattoos seek attention" or have a "mental death certificate". Orange Rhino, I would kindly give you my address so we could discuss this man to whatever you claim to be. And when you are done dusting yourself off and picking your tooth up I will be happy to show you all 16 of my tattoos and what they symbolize. Computer muscles rock!!!— bleck78
- @blech78...Ooooh....I'm sure you look really, really menacing with all that ink. You go on to express your violent desire to knock out someone's teeth. Congratulations, you reveal exactly who you are and prove the point of the normal people here who aren't pathological attention seekers.— jgalt52
- Not for me. But like a very wise woman (my mother) says, "What you eat don't make me fat"— vrb1955
- Living out here in San Diego,where every young person seems to have a tattoo,and makes sure it's always on display,especially the women,I'm sort of saddened that some East Coasters don't have more sense---and future outlook---when it comes to getting these indelible ink stains on their body. Hey, laser removal is only a few hundred bucks a pop---enjoy.— TEDcGEGI
- tattoos were cool around 1980, when it meant you were avant garde and bohemian. Now they're merely banal. The cashier at Walmart has one.— Yogi Spinoza
- @Bleck--I pray for you. Honestly. If you can get violent over something as silly as a joke column, then you are in for (1) either a big-time beat down by somebody over some issue that matters or (2) a term in prison, where you will learn how to put tats on your neck, forehead, and (facial) cheeks--thereby proving to the world that you are a dangerous idiot who should be cleaning toilets, if employed at all. Unless a person is suddenly and directly attacked by surprise, fighting is proof that he is too inarticulate to settle disputes verbally, or too foolish to walk away from some kind of violent psycho---like the one in your mirror.— orange rhino
- It sure will be interesting to go to Walmart in 2033 in the summer time to see what all these (today)45 year old tattoo'd women with implants look like when they are 65 years old.
I am guessing a cross between a shar pei puppy, an abstract canvas and a grapefruit smuggler.— 1000hugs - The data is very clear in regards to the American Workplace and tattoos. If you look at middle management and above in any of the Fortune 500 companies, you will be hard pressed to find any managers that have visible tattoos.
A study by Careerbuilder shows the perils of tattoos for aspiring professionals, and confirms the conventional wisdom: that tattoos are a bad choice for anyone who hopes for career advancement. Over approximately 50% of managers said their opinion of someone would be lowered by that person's visible body art and 75% of respondents believe that visible tattoos are unprofessional.
As an educator, I have seen the data that reveals that tattoos are strongly associated with high-risk behaviors among adolescents included reckless sexual intercourse, substance use, violent behaviors, and school problems. Do tattoos lead to these behaviors, of course not, but they are systemic of a mental attitude that leads to irresponsible behaviors.
— Rob P. - No thanks.— nyphillyloop2
- At my high school, way back when, a boy and two girls were caught having sex with each other in a janitor's broom closet when they knocked over a bucket full of water and a mop. Each kid was covered with tats of Sonny, Cher and their little girl, Chastity. Today, Sonny is dead, Cher is a practice person for young plastic surgeons, and Chastity is a guy named Chaz.— orange rhino
1
Classifieds:
Site Services:
Partners: