Behind the
Tattoo
Incredible tattoos and the meaningful stories behind them
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Contents 6
A note from the author
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Equations of life
10 Never fail toTry 12 Covered scars 14 Zodiac sign 16 Twin dragons 18 Three elements 20 Wayne best 22 Floraternal 5
A note from the
author
This is a pleasant book to look through. It’s like sitting at a bar or restaurant and having a bunch of people tell you their tattoo stories. Some of the stories are simple, but most are deep and sometimes heartbreaking but always interesting. I have no tattoo of my own but I have often wondered about the tattoos of others, because for me the tattoos are a uniqu and special artistic expression. This book contains portrait pictures of the person with their tattoo, information about the person and the story behind the tattoo. For those of us who aren’t adorned with tattoos there is a fascination of the how and more importantly the “why”. Why a tattoo? Why that tattoo? This book is a collection of just a few of those very personal, intimate stories giving first hand insight to each and every person’s “why” as we go behind the tattoo.
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Equations of life Filpo Martinez 28 years old Los Angeles, California - USA Basically, the story behind my tattoo is that I was a math and physics major while in college, part of the sleeve represents my DNA chain. Also, when I got the tattoo, several people passed away during that period – a friend, my uncle, my girlfriend so I chose different types of equations like the equation fo life, death, and sustained life for my tattoo. Because I am an electrician I incorporated copper, iron, gold, einsteinium, calcium, and uranium chemical symbols as well. One of my favorite movies is Star Wars which I also included as part of my tattoo and since my deceased girlfriend and I love outer space, math, and science I added it into the whole sleeve.
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Melissa Rodriguez 20 years old Miami, Florida - USA
This is my favorite quote of all time. The reason behind it is really to remind myself that it’s okay to fail. It doesn’t hurt to try because you can get something out of trying. You’ll get results no matter what. Never forget to try. I plan on getting more tattoos but I’m really glad I picked this quote as my first tattoo.
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Never fail to try
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Covered scars Ronald Alonso 24 years old Live Oak, Florida - USA
The lower half of my arm is “eve” from the bible all the animals stem from her hair representing my family members besides the snake turning into a bird that represents purity in evil. Every tattoo is really to cover up a scar needle marks to be exact. I was addicted to opiates for a few years and my arms looked like Swiss cheese. I covered them with my versions of my life. If you pay attention it starts off as Mother Nature, Eve. Turns into a plague I actually have the same animals tattooed but into creepier variations. Good and evil. My arms are reminders of who I once was and the transition from societies scope of social hierarchic normalcy is bullshit “.
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Angelica Murillo 36 years old Medellin, Colombia
I had wanted a tattoo for a long time but was afraid of the pain of the needle. After my divorce, I finally decided to do it. I didn’t want something simple or “girlie� like dolphins or daisies, I wanted a tattoo the represents the real me. After searching for some time I found an arrow that is the symbol of my zodiac sign Sagittarius, its meaning looking forward and focus on achieving your goals. I also wanted to incorporate stars representing the positive energy in the universe. These stars have the colors of the chakra energy system; one star is purple for wisdom, one is blue for communication, and last is green representing the heart that opens to everyone and everything by giving love.
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Balancing chakras
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Twin dragons Mario Biollo 40 years old Miami, Florida - USA You never could have told me this is what life would have in store for me. I was born in El Salvador, my family immigrated to the United States when I was 11 years old because of civil unrest. When I came here I had to learn English, I did so very quickly because of my love of music. Through school I made friends that I have to this day. We had a band, we played shows. We actually started getting some exposure and then life got in the way. The band broke up, we all remained friends but don’t practice or perform. You might say that I felt lost. The thing I was most passionate about made an exit stage left. I was engaged but it didn’t work out, she wanted me to “grow up” and basically change everything about myself. Fuck that. A fortune teller told me that she wasn’t the one; the next one was for me. Then I met Amy. She didn’t try to change me. It was love. Then we decided to have a baby. When we found out it was twins I almost passed out. After the shock wore off I think I experience the roller coaster of emotion all new parents feel- anticipation, worry and when they were born a lot of praying. Although identical they are completely different, I wanted something to honor my boys and so the twin dragons for me represent just that. Mirror images but what they each reflect is special and unique. I don’t feel lost any more. I have a renewed sense of direction and lots of love surrounding me. The biggest shock of my life turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me.
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Candy Garrido 21 years old Queretaro, Mexico
One day I woke up and found out I was truly happy , so I started thinking what made me so happy and realized I was so lucky, my health was great and I was happy with my body , I loved my classes and my assignments and I felt so blessed to be around so many people that I love and admire. I began to think life was all about balancing the 3 elements that make up the human being: mind , soul and body . My tattoo represents the 3 elements and the thin line represents this elements in balance , I realized this was the way I wanted to live my life.
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Three elements
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Wayne Best
Dan Flora 24 years old Schenectady, New York - USA
I will never forget the day that I got this tattoo. My good friend Wayne Best was shot and killed on December 9th, 2014 just 6 blocks from my house back in New York. I come from an urban area, and as messed up as it sounds I had always known someone close to me would die from getting shot. I just couldn’t believe it was him. I remember being at the funeral and all that was playing in my head was rap lyrics about friends getting shot and dying. I was in disbelief that those lyrics were my life at the moment. I didn’t want to run from it though. I’m proud of where I’m from and this was just a part of it. Tupac’s “Thug Life” tattoo on his stomach inspired the Old English font and the placement. Wayne’s initials will go with me wherever I go. I got the tattoo right after we buried him, and for me, they’re there as a constant reminder of where I came from, the culture I grew up in, and a friend that got claimed by it.
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Floraternal Dan Flora 24 years old Schenectady, New York - USA Bought Bring Me The Horizon’s album “Sempiternal” back in early 2013 and this exact design is on the cover. I would always sit there and stare at it trying to count the circles, but my eyes would get lost after about the 6th one and all I could see was the whole pattern. I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen because it was so simple; just a bunch of circles drawn starting at the center of another. I found out that the design is actually called a Flower of Life, and I always used to get shit for my last name being Flora, which means Flowers. I always saw that as a weakness, but this Flower of Life put strength in it. It was like taking the power back in my name and for my family. I give major props to the artist for pulling this off and not going cross-eyed. What’s pretty cool is that if you look at it up close it’s just the circles, but look at it from further away and it looks like it’s shaded in. I think that’s how we are as people; we might be this blur that’s hard to understand from a distance, but up close you can see what we really are.
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Behind
the
Tattoo I want to thank everyone who participated writing their stories to put them in this book. Designed by Oscar Aragon Translation and Writing by Oscar Aragon, Lila Aragon, Amy Love Photography by Oscar Aragon and Jorge Valdez 2015