I'm interested in tattoos for a long time. A great fascination about this kind of art, the fact that the decision you make will follow you for the rest of your life. I often went to BME to have a look to these wonderful pictures displayed on the website. My favourite photos sections were from the beginning on the oriental-japanese and tribal tattoos, especially those from Southern Pacific areas. They belong to the tradition and the culture of these parts of the World, and are are part of their history. What I appreciate in these kind of tattoos is the fact that they are timeless and I believe that they won't be out of fashion, even in 30 or 40 years.
At A Glance Author Lightyear Contact Lightyear@bme.anon IAM Lightyear When Six months ago Artist Simeon Huuti Location Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia I had the opportunity to fly to French Polynesia some months ago : a three week long journey to discover this paradise and his so famous islands surrounded by their light-blue lagoon like Bora Bora, Moorea, Tahiti, Tetiaroa or Rangiroa. I knew how the polynesian tattoos attracted me and as I made the decision to fly to Tahiti, I also decided to come back with my first tattoo. The name tattoo comes from the tahitian "tatau" : the symbol was to get tattooed at one of the famous places where tattoos come from. I had the opportunity to learn more about polynesian and marquesan tattoos, their history and the meaning of the symbols thanks to the internet during the few weeks before I left.
I had read that about 70% of polynesian people were tattooed and that this tradition came back since the early 80s. Now it is part of the identity of Southern Pacific peoples.
The only remaining questions were who and where : which tattoo artist and which part of my body. This was done more easy thanks to amount of books existing there about that topic. Each bookstore invites you to discover the whole story of tattoos, gives you all the explanation you need about marquesan symbols and is illustrated with lots of great photos. I had a look at several times during my trip in theses books and magazines and found that a marquesan stripe around my left thigh would be a great idea for a first experience with ink.
At the end of my three weeks long journey through French Polynesia I visited Papeete on Tahiti Island and I met Simeon Huuti, the award winner of the tattoo contest of Tatoonesia, the Polynesian Convention, in 2005 and 2006. I explained him what kind of tattoo I wanted, the size, the symbols, the place and so on. It was great to meet him in his small studio at the upper floor of the covered market of Papeete. His brother has also a tattoo studio at the same place, next door. Both are famous marquesan tattoo artists and win often prizes for their art.
With his red pencil, he began to draw two lines around the thigh : one for the upper limit of the tattoo, and one a bit more than 3 inches under the first one. These was the only thing made with a pencil : everything else has been donne freehand with the tattoo machine. He began drawing a Tiki head. A great moment. I didn't know how the result would be looking like but I trusted him. He told me that the area which would be tattooed offered a big surface to include lots of marquesan symbols. He is a great artist : he has an exact idea of how the tattoo will look like once finished.
As it was my first meeting with ink, I didn't know how painful it would be. For sure some parts of the thigh hurt more than others, especially the inner part, but nothing that let very bad memories to me. I even can say that it was a good time. At this moment I wondered if this tattoo would not be the first of a series which would finally wrap my whole left leg. A sleeve tattoo in the polynesian marquesan style would be a great way to enlarge my stripe. I met some people with their legs fully tattooed and the result is really fantastic.
A little bit more than two hours later, it was done. The result is amazing and I was very proud of my tattoo from that moment. The place I have chose is great : I can show my tattoo to some people and keep it hidden for some others. It was a kind of challenge to make the decision of getting the first tattoo. Now I am sure that the result is up to my expectancies and that this first piece will not remain alone for a very long time.
My first experience was very enjoyable : you can't stop thinking about how you will enlarge your tattoo and look for other ideas...
But this will be another story.