There are two sides to every story; in this case it’s photographer Alex Beer and his subject Mark Harris.

The view from behind the lens..

“I love photography as a whole but tattoos are my passion. I’m fascinated by their unique qualities, from person to person and culture to culture. How they function as a visual representation of a person’s life and family history. I like to capture this through photography but with an edge.

“I’m making a TV show next year about the history of tattoos across the world, visiting ten countries in ten weeks. From Australia to Brazil and Japan to New Zealand, using my body as a canvas to illustrate the different styles of tattooing in each country. I’ll also be making a photo diary as I go which will become a book to accompany the show. Until then I will continue to photograph interesting tattooed people. That’s the plan.” Alex Beer

And the view from in front..

“I believe that you can tell a lot about someone by their tattoos, as they should be an extension of who they are, which is important for me as a performer. I’m a male solo singer and my artist name is Maze. The genre of music is comparative to that of a male Pink. I’m currently working on an album set for a spring 2010 release.

“I have had the same tattooist for all of my designs purely because she knows me as a person and therefore her illustrations represent who I am. My largest piece is the dragon over half my torso, which took around 30 hours to complete. I like the fact that not many people have large pieces purely because of the pain factor. Again this tells you something about the individual, even if it’s only that they are probably slightly insane.” Mark Harris

Tattoos by Lesley Chan at Shangri-la, Kingsland Rd, London

Fetishwear by Expectations, Great Eastern St, London

Our friend and contributor, the gorgeous and ever-so-elegant Ellen von Unwerth, who recently broke her right wrist (unltimate bummer for a right-handed photographer!), took the opportunity to gain some non-permanent tats. Gotta take the good with the bad, init? ;)

I’m looking for the rest of the pictures from these 2 series of Linda E. by Steven Meisel. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Especially the one on the right. Nice aren’t they?

Very excited. Maurizio’s doing something special for Sang Bleu 5. A perfect partnership.

‘I work with sewing, embroidery and drawing to explore the essence of signs in their physical manifestation. I take inspiration from my own personal experience and observation of how, in other cultures, bodies themselves are treated as living graphic symbols. I then use sewing and embroidery in a further attempt to re-signify, and mark the space with a man-made sign, a trace. I am interested in people’s stories and histories, and the relation between intimacy and the outer world. I have been working with hair for the past few years. I stitch and sew hair together until it becomes a sculpture. I see hair as a metaphorical medium to represent bodily boundaries, the embodiment of space.’ Maurizio Anzeri

Just got the the Dazed newsletter, in which I found:

August 2009: Inspired by Robert Mapplethorpe’s portrayal of the New York fetish scene. Photography by Karim Sadli and styling by Robbie Spencer.

Wow, just got some previews of a series Adrian Wilson is working on for for SB5! I’m so excited. Can’t show you too much, but I can’t resist! haha. Hands on your magnifiers!