The South Florida Tattoo Expo, which just celebrated its 24th year this past weekend, is a three day affair (Friday-Sunday) that was held yet again at the Coral Springs Marriott Hotel, Golf Club & Convention Center. It not only featured the best tattoo artists in all of Florida but a truckload of live bands, a wet t-shirt contest (of course), a fetish show, and human suspension (the act of suspending a human body from hooks that have been put through the skin!). Sounds like a bunch of weird people doing weird things, right? Well, here’s the best part: all proceeds benefit the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital; and it’s been that way since year one.
I attended the event for the very first time last year (you can view a video I produced HERE) and was back again this year (this time with my Pentax K-1 and a few good lenses). Despite not having any tattoos on my body (I’m incapable of ever making up my mind on what tattoo I’d actually want), I’ve always been fascinated by tattoo culture and the unique characters it attracts. I’ll be exploring it further through a series of short videos I’m hoping to produce over the next few months (they’ll be housed over at my film/video site southfloridafilmmaker.com) but in the meantime, allow me to present some of the artists that were on hand at this year’s Expo.
***Oh, and the FULL GALLERY of images (these are just a few) are available over on my SmugMug site. Just saying***
Bobby Badfellow of Badfellow Tattoo in Fort Lauderdale, who were presenting sponsors of the Expo…
Cristina Marie and Tony “Two Times” of In The Flesh Tattoo Co.
David Robinowitz of Aces High Tattoo
Apollo Busato of Iron Glory tattoo
From top: Mike and Loco (owner) of Dharma Tattoo Studio
From top: Vanity Lynn, Capo and Tattoo Casper (owner) of Funhouse Tattoos
From top: Sky Lermusiaux, Antz (le Auncē) and Emily Tides of No Hard Feelings Tattoo
Darian Lisker of High Spirits Tattoo
JOSF of All Wolves No Sheep Tattoos in Brooklyn, NYC
Miguel Valentin of Ink Addiction Tattoos
Rob Soli of South Seas Tattoo Company
Joe Buchman of Aces High Tattoo
Leo Mayer of Iron Glory Tattoo Studio
Meghan Schader of of Badfellow Tattoo
AC3 ARtist all the way from St. Croix
Sadie Anne of Gold Minds Tattoo Gallery
Damien Bart of Bruce Bart Tattooing
Vanessa Monday of White Rabbit Tattoo Studio in NYC
Tommy Gunz from Jacksonville
Check out my next post, which features the bands, babes and the bizarre of this truly remarkable three-day event. GO THERE NOW
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***Check out the FULL GALLERY over on my SmugMug site***
All photographs of the South Florida Tattoo Expo were taken with my Pentax K-1 using the Pentax 24-70mm f/2.8, Pentax-FA 77mm F1.8 Limited, Irix 15mm f/2.4 and the Pentax-F 135mm f/2.8. Supported by the Spider Camera Holster SpiderPro Hand Strap (a must for the weighty K-1) and carried around in the Lowepro Slingshot Edge 250 camera bag.
Like what you see? Photographs are available in all shapes and sizes on my SmugMug site. From simple prints to wall art, magnets, mugs, mousepads and phone cases. Browse the collection by clicking the image below…
