This book is a compendium of symbols with sacred meanings, perfect for anyone looking to find a meaningful tattoo design, professional tattoo artists or anyone interested in folklore and religion.

It gathers some of the most popular and lesser known signs from around the world in a comprehensive and accessible guide. Looking at each symbol's history and origins, it unveils the cultural and spiritual significance, alongside any folklore to give each image context, and showcases different tattoo styles for those seeking inspiration or just a fresh approach to a traditional design.

The directory includes 75-100 lead symbols and themes, reflecting the way these develop and emerge across different folklore and religions. Each of these has an accessible list of meanings as well as a list of key uses and context to where the sacred origins lie.

This beautifully illustrated guide delves deep into the meaning and significance of different tattoo symbols, exploring the rich cultural history around the world of this widespread form of body art. Tattoos are everywhere: one in three of us has at least one. Body art is one of the most popular ways of expressing our identity and beliefs. But whether we're aware of it or not when we choose a design to be permanently inked on our skin, a complex language of meanings lies behind the visuals we choose. A lotus flower, koi carp swimming upstream or a dragon rising towards the sun: in the language of tattoos these are all symbols of strength and overcoming adversity. This book uncovers the meanings behind tattoo symbols, delving into the history of the most popular motifs that recur in many different tattoo styles, including tribal, traditional, Japanese and realistic. Over 130 symbols are grouped according to their meanings, whether it's good luck, freedom, wisdom, power, spirituality or love. Each symbol is illustrated with stunning, specially drawn visuals by acclaimed artist and tattooist Oliver Munden, and accompanied by an explanation by tattoo expert Nick Schonberger which delves into its history, significance and application in tattooing. Both a visual delight and a fascinating insight into the rich cultural heritage of tattooing, this is the perfect book for anyone wanting to learn more about tattoo symbolism, in need of inspiration for their next tattoo, or who just loves tattoo art.

Drawing on the works of a number of postmodern theorists, this study suggests that the tattooed body is symptomatic of a general process of marking and being marked and is a social production of identity and difference. Shifting the focus away from what the tattooed body means to what it does, this work analyzes how it functions and what effects it produces. It challenges the ways in which identity and difference are discursively produced, particularly in psychological, criminological, and counter-cultural discourses. The writings of such theorists as Foucault, Levinas, Barthes, and Lingis are scrutinized to reveal how their discourse interprets the tattooed body as simply an aberrant threat to the body or simply a positive counter-cultural challenge. These theories are supplanted with this unique approach to notions of subjectivity, textuality, ethics, and pleasure and to the relationships among them.

This examination of the role of the body in social, political, and ethical relations will attract scholars from a number of disciplines, including cultural studies, gender studies, philosophy, visual arts, sociology, and English. It will also appeal to critics and practitioners in contemporary practices of body modification.

Lively and informative, The World Atlas of Tattoo is a superbly illustrated and compelling reference book that, through examining the meeting point between tattoo artists and their personal understanding of their environment, presents a well-informed and nuanced account of what has become a widespread art practice. Organized geographically, each section is introduced by a short historical overview of the types of tattooing traditionally practised in that area of the world, enabling the reader to trace historical threads in the careers of some of the profiled tattooers, as well as marvel at how other artists have managed to create novel forms of tattooing that transcend any previous context. The book also tracks the movement of styles from their indigenous settings to diasporic communities, where they have often been transformed into creative, multicultural, hybrid designs. Written by an international team of scholars, historians and journalists, this comprehensive atlas will enlighten and excite anyone who is passionate about tattoo art in its many forms worldwide.

The Russian Criminal Tattoo Archive presents highlights from FUEL’s singular collection of authentic material on this subject. Previously unpublished in its original form, this work comprises ink on paper drawings by Danzig Baldaev, the photographic albums of Arkady Bronnikov and prisoner portraits by Sergei Vasiliev. The selection is contextualised with insights from Mark Vincent PhD (author and academic specialising in the Soviet Gulag) and Alison Nordström (photography scholar, writer and curator). The meticulous depictions of tattoos by prison guard Danzig Baldaev are reproduced in facsimile, authenticated by his signature and stamp, alongside his handwritten notes on the reverse. The paper has yellowed with age, giving the exquisite drawings a visceral temporality – almost like skin. Sergei Vasiliev’s photographs portray inmates in startling intimacy. He achieves a remarkable level of trust within the closed criminal society, a strict hierarchy, where outsiders are viewed with hostile suspicion. Arkady Bronnikov’s collection of photographs are shown in the albums in which they were collected. Used exclusively to aid police in their investigations, they depict a motley line-up of assorted body parts. This unique book is the only publication of primary material on this subject, highlighting the pioneering methods of these three individuals used to document this unique phenomenon.

Think you know ink? Think again!

Whether your tattoo is to honour a loved one, to remember an event, to state your beliefs or simply to look good, there's always more to getting a tattoo than meets the eye. For example, do you know that having a tat links you to a deep and multicultural tradition stretching back thousands of years? Yes, even that one you got as a drunken dare . . .

From Siberia to Polynesia, tattoos have always been part of human history. Vilified and revered, shunned and celebrated, the history of the tattoo is as colourful and detailed as a master's design. The Little Guide to Tattoos is packed with fascinating history, fun facts, quirky quotes and deep dives onto some of the most iconic symbols.

Whether you're a full-on aficionado or cautiously ink-curious, The Little Guide to Tattoos is the only guide you need to all things tattoo.

Learn the proper techniques in creating and applying a tattoo stencil through an illustrated step-by-step guide. A gallery of original illustrations created by the authors for their clients, displays the new direction of skin art from an artist's perspective. This takes the reader on a journey of the designs in the street shop tattoo studio looking at Old School designs, New School, and New Old School styles that have driven tattoo design to a new level that combines styles to create new forms. Skulls, crosses, hearts, flames, knives, creatures, machines and adaptive designs are featured here.

What happens to body arts when these aesthetic practices assume fresh significance in the context of modernity? In many parts of the indigenous world, the realm of body arts has become an arena for innovation, debate, revival and repression under the conditions of modernity. Among some groups, formerly suppressed 'traditions' of body arts have recently been revived. Elsewhere, body arts have been the means for creating or renovating identities in response to a developing international tourist market and in the light of novel technologies of representation, such as photography and film. The contributions to this volume draw together ideas emerging from the anthropology of the body, the western interest in body ornamentation of the 'Other', and the recent revival of specific body arts such as tattooing and piercing. Drawing on ethnographic case studies from Amazonia, Indonesia, Africa, Melanesia and Polynesia, this volume shows how bodily presentation plays a fundamental role in contemporary identity politics in tension with encompassing national and global stereotypes, which may in turn both constrain and empower local traditions.

More than just a colouring book, Immortal Ink is a celebration of tattoo art and features a collection of art in different styles. Featuring 45 incredible designs from talented tattoo artists, each illustration is as inspiring as it is fun to colour. With artwork in eight different styles including Americana, Japanese, Blackwork and Steampunk, each daring design offers you the opportunity to unleash your own creativity as you add your choice of stylish colour. The accompanying text delves into the history and ethos of each genre and explores the rich and fascinating symbolism behind individual elements used in every spectacular piece.