Eclectic crime fiction & informed, irreverent non-fiction from Asia & beyond
Journalist Laure Siegel, photographer Dom Pichard and myself produced 16 pages of features in this month’s edition of RISE TATTOO, France’s #1 tattoo magazine on the 5th International Nepal Tattoo Convention and the Nepali earthquake which took place during the convention weekend in late April. The reportages included a portrait of hobo tattooist Chris Powers, […]
Continue ReadingI am currently wrapping up a bunch of stories about the 5th International Tattoo Convention in Nepal and its aftermath. It’s been a pleasure working with French journalists Laure Siegel and Dom Pichard as well as meeting countless interesting and wonderful tattoo artists and punters on the roof of the world. The […]
Continue ReadingCheck out this new short film by photographer Hans Kemp on sak yant, Thailand’s sacred tattoos. Music by Keith Nolan. TIME Magazine Review (Asia Edition) Luck of the Draw By Andrew Marshall Monday, May 23 Read more: time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2071020,00.html#ixzz1MpMZ1QpH The introduction to Sacred Skin, Tom Vater and Aroon Thaewchatturat’s new tribute to Thailand’s sak yant, or […]
Continue ReadingI just wrote a new article on Thailand’s sacred tattoos in the Nikkei Asian Review. Photographs by Aroon Thaewchatturat.
Continue ReadingSacred Skin – Thailand’s Spirit Tattoos, photographed by Aroon Thaewchatturat, gets a couple new plugs/ reviews. The Apsara Diaries write “The book ‘Scared Skin’ focuses on Thai devotees and the Wai Khru; a once a year gathering of tattooed devotes. The book gives you a clear, in-depth understanding of Yantra and its magic.” Over at […]
Continue ReadingJennifer Jerome interviews me about Thailand’s sacred tattoos for The Chiang Mai City News this week. Read her story Ink of the Gods: The Myth and Magic of Sak Yant here. And check out my bestselling book on Thailand’s spirit tattoos, Sacred Skin, with incredible photography by Aroon Thaewchatturat. Sacred Skin is available in good […]
Continue ReadingAroon Thaewchatturat‘s photographs of Thailand’s sak yant wearers, featured in our highly acclaimed book Sacred Skin, published by Visionary World in 2010, are going international. The Gewerbe Museum in Winterthur, Switzerland opens its first TATTOO exhibition today and large prints of Aroon’s images, blessed by eminent sak yant master Achan Neng Onnut, are part of […]
Continue Reading“I tried to capture not just the devotees’ tattoos but who they were. My models were rather shy at first. Most of them were male and taking their clothes off for a female photographer was definitely a challenge for them. But after I had taken a few shots, their confidence increased and they conveyed a […]
Continue ReadingLast month, we had a visit from veteran tattooist Bruce Bart and his wife Jennifer. They were on an Asian road trip and were looking for a tattoo master in Thailand. Their search, quite an adventure, eventually led them to Sacred Skin and to the house I share with my wife, photographer Aroon Thaewchatturat. This […]
Continue ReadingSacred Skin receives a great review from Danny Keens, Producer of 60 Minutes, on Amazon. Wonderful!!! When I stumbled upon this print collaboration between author Tom Vater and photographer Aroon Thaewchatturat I was taken completely by surprised and totally mesmerized. You see, I’m not the sort of person who would have considered a tattoo and […]
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