Horiyoshi III video by Vice

[Lance]

I just noticed this video with Horiyoshi III and haven't seen it posted yet. There are some really interesting ideas/philosophies in it regarding tattoos.

Click on the "closed caption" to activate the subtitles.

[el twe]

Here's the non-mobile version...

[Lance]

Ah, thanks for that @el twe

[cltattooing]

Wow, thanks for posting that! Made my night, I am kind of left speechless cause I don't know what I could possibly say to follow that up. Cool dude :cool:

[tatB]

Planning to watch this after work tonight.

[Tim Burke]

It's amazing how good the tattoos look on video, I think particularly with large scale Japanese that flows the way Horiyoshi III's does you lose a lot in still images.

Really enjoyed this, thanks for bringing it to my attention @Lance

[Diehardonvhs]

Brilliant video, thanks a lot! Seeing Yoshi's bodysuit in person is truly special, if you ever find him at a convention, follow him around until he gets naked. I don't think its technically illegal.

[gougetheeyes]

I wish there was another hour and a half of this.

[guitguy]

Ha! I watched the whole thing and thought to myself "Man, I wish there was subtitles". I never was one to read instructions thouroughly lol. I figured it out eventually and watched it again. Fascinating stuff. Thanks for posting.

The man's words on tattoo becoming commonplace kinda bummed me out because we can see that happening here in a big way. It seems everyone and their little sister is tattooed nowadays and it has really taken that beautiful dark edge away from it. I know I'm restating the obvious, but this vid brought it to the forefront for me and sometimes I wonder if I should continue getting tattooed. I usually snap out of it though. It is after all a personal journey and the young lady serving my food with a full sleeve of flowers and song lyrics really has nothing to do with me still wanting a crawling black panther or homeward bound ship or whatever. For me, it is less about "Hey people, look at my tattoo" as it is me looking at myself and saying " I love my tattoo".

Pardon the digression. Awesome vid. Thanks again for posting.

[cltattooing]

Ha! I watched the whole thing and thought to myself "Man, I wish there was subtitles". I never was one to read instructions thouroughly lol. I figured it out eventually and watched it again. Fascinating stuff. Thanks for posting.

The man's words on tattoo becoming commonplace kinda bummed me out because we can see that happening here in a big way. It seems everyone and their little sister is tattooed nowadays and it has really taken that beautiful dark edge away from it. I know I'm restating the obvious, but this vid brought it to the forefront for me and sometimes I wonder if I should continue getting tattooed. I usually snap out of it though. It is after all a personal journey and the young lady serving my food with a full sleeve of flowers and song lyrics really has nothing to do with me still wanting a crawling black panther or homeward bound ship or whatever. For me, it is less about "Hey people, look at my tattoo" as it is me looking at myself and saying " I love my tattoo".

Pardon the digression. Awesome vid. Thanks again for posting.

I thought that was a really interesting part of his philosophy as well. I'd agree that it's kind of a bummer how tattoos are becoming so demystified, but I also think that that mysticism can never really die as it's a very intrinsic part of tattooing. What I see happening now is more of a divide between the people who "get tatted" and people go "get tattooed." The former category is generally composed of people who like the idea of getting tattooed and do so to embody the counter-cultural status quo/because it's cool/because wiz khalifa has tattoos. I think that the latter category falls more into people who do their research on good tattooing and solid artists, those who follow a path toward the right tattoo. The people who have a certain reverence for the process and go about it almost ritualistically, and I believe that's what Horiyoshi III-sama was talking about. I don't know if that will ever really die...

[guitguy]

I thought that was a really interesting part of his philosophy as well. I'd agree that it's kind of a bummer how tattoos are becoming so demystified, but I also think that that mysticism can never really die as it's a very intrinsic part of tattooing. What I see happening now is more of a divide between the people who "get tatted" and people go "get tattooed." The former category is generally composed of people who like the idea of getting tattooed and do so to embody the counter-cultural status quo/because it's cool/because wiz khalifa has tattoos. I think that the latter category falls more into people who do their research on good tattooing and solid artists, those who follow a path toward the right tattoo. The people who have a certain reverence for the process and go about it almost ritualistically, and I believe that's what Horiyoshi III-sama was talking about. I don't know if that will ever really die...

cltattoo.....I think you really hit the nail squarely on the head there. Thanks for posting that. It actually made me feel better about the whole kettle of fish lol

[Graeme]

It isn't worth wasting your time caring about what tattoos other people get. People have been getting tattoos for as long as there have been people, I have no reason to believe that people will ever stop getting tattoos. It's larger than all of us and it will survive.

Sorry for being a dirty hippie there.

[Cork]

Great Vid @Lance. Thanks for posting it. Seeing the full suits moving in video is way more impressive than seeing a still picture of it.

[DJDeepFried]

I was thinking the same thing. Just to see a tattoo "breathe" as opposed to a still photo gives you a totally different perspective. Wonder if tattoo artists will start using Vine as well as IG. It's the perfect app for it.

[Graeme]

I was thinking the same thing. Just to see a tattoo "breathe" as opposed to a still photo gives you a totally different perspective. Wonder if tattoo artists will start using Vine as well as IG. It's the perfect app for it.

Thomas Hooper experimented a bit with video of his tattoos on his blog, but I don't know to what extent he is pursuing that line of documenting his tattoos. I agree that well-done video of tattoos is great to showcase them, but I still think there's something to be said for good photography. Look at Taki's book Bushido and the photos of Horiyoshi III's tattoos in them and how well they show the tattoos and the way they sit in the skin. The photos are really pretty amazing. I think the problem is that we've just gotten far too used to looking at crappy pictures taken by camera phones on tiny little phone screens and while I think it's on the one hand so great to have this massive amount of access to seeing some amazing tattoos that are being on daily around the world, we've also lost a lot. An iPhone just isn't going to give you the richness and texture that a decent camera will, and the nature of the internet, and instagram especially, is that it's very much about immediacy and getting as much information out as quickly as possible which means that amazing backpiece or sleeve or bodysuit (or whatever, even a one point!) that you and your tattooer have been working on for months or years and that you're going to carry for the rest of your life and is going to age and decay with your body becomes this image that somebody is going to stop and look at for a couple of seconds, "like" it it not, then move on to the next tattoo, dog photo, or picture of somebody's pretentious lunch.

I haven't tried Vine, mind you.

[kylegrey]

I've posted this before elsewhere on this site but it's beautiful and worth a look .

[ltholley]

thanks for posting; I can't believe I missed this.

[RScott]

I saw this a while ago and certainly appreciate a reminder to watch it again. When I first saw this, I was researching getting my first tattoo and it made me think differently about the whole experience. A lot of my friends are tattoo snobs(and I say that in the most complimentary way) so I had a lot of good influences leading up to it.

I thought that was a really interesting part of his philosophy as well. I'd agree that it's kind of a bummer how tattoos are becoming so demystified, but I also think that that mysticism can never really die as it's a very intrinsic part of tattooing. What I see happening now is more of a divide between the people who "get tatted" and people go "get tattooed." The former category is generally composed of people who like the idea of getting tattooed and do so to embody the counter-cultural status quo/because it's cool/because wiz khalifa has tattoos. I think that the latter category falls more into people who do their research on good tattooing and solid artists, those who follow a path toward the right tattoo. The people who have a certain reverence for the process and go about it almost ritualistically, and I believe that's what Horiyoshi III-sama was talking about. I don't know if that will ever really die...

I agree with this whole-heartedly, both with tattoos and most everything I devote my time, energy and money to. Music always comes to mind. I believe, like H3 touched on in the video, that there is an essence and soul in great art. Music that is written with some kind of genuine, intentional thought to it is always evident over, say, Rihanna or Kid Rock's newest radio hit. The same goes for people who build classic cars by welding and fabricating something from nothing vs. someone bolting on shiny wheels and parts to try make their car look the part. And so on.

The average person that likes shiny, easily attainable things will never know the difference. The people that know, really know and I think it's important to have enough respect for any given craft to be one of those people.

I was thinking the same thing. Just to see a tattoo "breathe" as opposed to a still photo gives you a totally different perspective. Wonder if tattoo artists will start using Vine as well as IG. It's the perfect app for it.

Since IG introduced video last week I've already seen some artists start to utilize it to show their work. Especially with larger pieces, it's a great way to really show how the piece looks and not have to make diptychs and triptychs in a single photo.

[Pleadco]

I admire very much his steadfast, calm, and focused nature.

Thank you @Graeme for pointing me in this direction :).