Skin Pics

A bold reveal of a rose tattoo opens this 1980 documentary on contemporary Kiwi tattooing. Then, a potted history of the practice punctuates visits to parlours on K Road and Hastings, plus the studios of industry legends Steve Johnson and Roger Ingerton. Interviews with tattooists and their canvases roam from stigma, the perils of permanence, and motivations for inking; to design tropes (sailors, serpents, swallows) and tā moko. Commissioned by TVNZ for the Contact documentary slot, the Geoff Steven film chronicles a time when “folk art has become high art.” 

It takes the inner man and puts him on the outside where he can be seen.

– A definition of tattoo, from the narration

Key Cast & Crew

Geoff Steven

Director

Paul Hartigan

Title Graphics

D.O.C. Williams

Executive Producer

Julienne Stretton

Research