reality TV Shows — Tattoo

Tattoos symbolised rebellion and radical natures, and were used to promote individuality. While these still hold true today, it is apparent that the tattoo industry has changed radically. The reality show craze of the past five years has sparked off a new movement” reality shows about tattooing. Most popular are TLCs Miami Ink, and LA Ink.

It is time to take a break from personas searching for love, money, or attention- urgently hungering for their fifteen minutes of fame, and move on to genuinely talented artists. In spite of all the drama, some good tattoo designs and surprisingly touching stories are captured on film.

Yes, lately, reality tattoo TV shows have been doing the rounds. Rio Ink- from Rio de Janeiro, is the latest body art reality show to hit the airwaves. It is a Discovery Channel spin-off of the original hit Miami Ink, and like the original, it follows five tattoo artists as they go about their work. The Rio Ink artists include: Lucio Tattoo (the passionate artist and shop owner), CH2 (known for his graffiti/hip-hop style), Lia (the only female artist, known for her feminine designs), Daniel (skilled at transforming existing designs), and Magathi (with years of experience).

The tattoo shop Banzai Tattoo is situated in the center of Ipanema. The series catches the unique energy of a beachfront Brazilian tattoo parlor, and allows for a background on the clients and their causes for acquiring a tattoo. One of the characteristic tattoos in the Rio Ink series is a tribute to the Afro-Brazilian deity Iemanja.

Thus, the popularity of reality-based TV shows now brings you tattooing live and in color, right into your very own sitting room! You can even watch Inked presented by the A&E Network. This, is set inside an actual working tattoo parlor, and generally observes the various daily activities of the tattoo artists and customers who come into the shop to get tattooed.

Then there is Miami Ink, that occurs in the South Beach region of Miami, Florida. The show looks at a series of clients and their tattoos, and introduces each as a little story. The diverse clients all talk about their designs, what the tattoo implies to them, why they feel it was time to get that special tattoo, and why they picked the artist that they were doing work with. Also worthy of mention is Inked, which happens in the Hart & Huntington Tattoo Company shop, settled in the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.