Olivier L, 1999. Photo by Philip Barbosa. Modcon.

www.blurb.com/books/125078... In August I gave a lecture on the under-documented influence of queer tattoo artists & collectors in modern (1950s-1980s) tattooing. This book covers the introduction & tattooer/pornographer JD of TRASH fame. It's 25% off thru Dec 11th with code GIVINGTUES25

I put together a fun little 20 page photo zine as part of a Secret Santa exchange; no spoilers but it's tied to my Indelible Identities series on queer tattoo history. Shhh.

Larry Copeland hosted a gathering of tattoo and piercing fans at his Hoboken, NJ residence in 1974/5. In attendance was Emil Gundelach who continued getting tattooed into his 90s, Tatu Scotty, Spider Webb, Dave Slack, Mary, and Ken Meyer (among other unnamed friends)

Dave Slack was a queer tattoo artist who worked in NYC in the 1970s/80s. He appeared in the legendary gay xxx video "NYC INFERNO" (playing a tattoo artist). This clip, recorded in approx 1974/5, also features Emil Gundelach, Larry Copeland, Key Meyer, and Spider Webb. sacreddebris.com

This is the length (heh) I go to to not get banned on Instagram again. Leg tattoos by Raven sacreddebris.com

Next year will mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of my mentor, Jack Yount. I'll be giving a series of lectures on his life and legacy in 2026, contextualizing his place in my history, body modification history, trans history, and more. Very excited about this series!

Excerpt from TATTOO; Rick Herold getting "ass flames" Directed by Michael Zen (C. Michael McCullough) 1975

On Aug 16th, I gave the first in a series of lectures on the under documented history of Queer Tattooing. We covered a basic primer on some of the early (1960s-80s) queer tat pioneers, then dug into cruising culture documentarian/tattooer John Dagion. This book serves as a lecture companion...

Patrick's favorite bar, The Ambush (1973-1986, SF) 🔻 Poster NFS • Artwork by Chuch Arnett • Photos by @bradleyroberge.bsky.social • 𝒜𝓊𝓉𝑜ᴇʀᴏᴛɪᴄᴀ • 4077A 18th St at Castro • (415) 861-5787 • email [email protected]

It was nice sharing time with so many amazing people yesterday at BMXNet. My talk went mostly well. Only had one person faint!

Pleased as punch to be invited back to Berlin by the fine folks at BMXNet!

Sarai, 2006. The SCAR WARS events- three in total- were the first organized gathering of cutting/branding professionals working alongside each other, collaborating, and sharing tips and tricks. This was from the second event. sacreddebris.com

We’re proud to announce that the film’s international premiere will be at the Gaze Film Festival in Dublin (July 2025). We are excited to take our film overseas! 🎥 Also! You can stream the film WORLDWIDE July 26-30 via frozenfilmfestival.com

Fired up the VCR today for some conversion. This cassette is likely from 1981 and features Bill Mokry. Sacreddebris.com

Queer history. Tattoo history. Queer tattoo history.

Happy Pride Month y'all! The history of queer tattooing is still being written (literally. Im procrastinating from writing about it right this second) but there will always be a special place in my heart for Sailor Sid Diller, seen here tattooing at his private studio, 1980s sacreddebris.com

Test copies of my book of photos from the London Tattoo Society event arrived and I’m absolutely delighted with them

While searching for something else (which is often how I find cool things in my archives) I found a thought-lost letter from Viking Navaro to Jack Yount, 1982, discussing scrotum stretching. Excited to get it scanned! sacreddebris.com (photo of Jack, 1980s, cropped)

A few years back I put out a book featuring beyond rare photos of a modification devotee named TIL - who was most famous for his "penis inversion" - this was the promo video. nodalpointszine.com

A friend of legendary piercer/tattoo artist Alan Oversby, taken 1978. sacreddebris.com #septumpiercing #bodyart

Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of the first SCAR WARS event; we assembled some of the world's top scar artists for three days of cutting, peeling and branding. Will be doing a lecture about the events this August in Berlin!

John Dagion's semi-autobiographical smut zine, TRASH, collected his sexual escapades alongside the lascivious tales of his readers, personal stories, erotic art, & personal ads. It's essential documentation of the life of an underrepresented part of modern tattoo culture. sacreddebris.com

NYE 1985 at @bradlapin.bsky.social 's do! 💗💗💗

Just updated the blog with the not safe for instagram Polaroid of Bob from Michigan. Dates back 40 years or so. #queertattoo #indelibleidentities sacreddebris.com

It’s impossible to overstate the impact that Samuel Steward had on modern tattooing. Tattooing professionally under the name Phil Sparrow, he was a primary mentor to Ed Hardy & Cliff Raven. The intersection of tattoo culture and the queer community is inseparable. sacreddebris.com #queertattoo

Another Benard Kobel Photo Of A Tattooed Lady 1940s... #tattoo #tattooed #bernardkobel #photographer #tattooedlady #1940s

This is Easter. I celebrated by sorting, inventorying, and scanning through dozens of T.R.A.S.H. magazines; True Revelations and Strange Happenings. The issues featured amazing confessionals from JD, art by REX, the Hun, Bill Ward, and enough tattoo content to give added depth to my next lecture!

Happy Easter y'all. Let's celebrate by hearing the story of how Allen Falkner (one of the most pivotal folks in the popularization of modern body suspension) became my go-to scrotum suturer at the second ModCon (underground surgery) event! youtu.be/BJUxedv7G6s?...

This is a cover mockup for the lecture companion I'll be making for my upcoming Berlin chat. The first in the INDELIBLE IDENTITIES series will feature gay trucker erotica scribe/tattooer John Dagion. This series isn't THE history of Queer Tattooing, just a piece of it.

This is a flier for a lecture I’ll be presenting in Berlin, August 2025. We’ll be discussing SCAR WARS- a series of cutting/branding events I hosted from 2005-7, the blog that accompanied it, and its impact on the body mod community. sacreddebris.com for more info.

This is a cutting by Dave Gillstrap, from the Scar Wars 2 event in February of 2006. Hail Slack. sacreddebris.com

This is Pat Tidwell, 2006. Pat's freehand piercing technique has become a thing of legend, as is his recitations of dialogue from Back to the Future. sacreddebris.com

This is Sailor Sid freehand drawing a “black graphic” coverup on a client. Influenced by his blackwork from Cliff Raven, Sid tried his hand at the emerging trend of “tribal” tattooing. VHS source from our archives- 1984-86 approx. Sacreddebris.com

This is Econ professor A. Viking Navaro and "lovely Jeffrey" - very early 1980s.Viking had some early representational black graphic (more commonly called 'tribal' these days) tattoo work from Cliff Raven. sacreddebris.com

Here are some pictures from my latest project with @scalpelpriestess.bsky.social

Nodal Points 6, the latest edition of our ongoing exploration into the history, culture, and evolution of modern body modification. This issue brings together a diverse range of voices, each offering unique insight into the world of extreme body mod, ritual, & history. www.blurb.com/b/12323328-n...

This is the cover to PFI 13 featuring art by legendary gay artist BUD; This issue featured an article on A Viking Navaro - also called Bud - who was the subject of our first Archive Editions Book. www.blurb.com/b/10708501-s...

I'm going to start breaking things up - piercing/modification content here, tattoo stuff on @occultvibrations.com I feel that body art is holistic; to me its all kind of part & parcel, but I can see how my tattoo folks may not want to see a split penis while they're scrolling tattoo history stuff.

This is Harriet- they’d like you to know that team Sacred Debris will be attending this year’s BMENet conference in Berlin! Can’t wait to see old friends and make new ones!

This is Debra Cooper; she tattoos and was the cohost of a series of 1980s/90s tattoo documentary videos with her partner Royboy. The films are dated and at times problematic but provide rarely paralleled documentation of a time/place in tattoo & piercing culture. sacreddebris.com

This is a business card for tattooer Guy Aitchison, early 1990s. sacreddebris.com

This is Jacci, from New Orleans. Video- late 80s? Jacci's ART ACCENT shop in NO was a must visit for tattoo travelers in the 80s and 90s. Longer video will likely end up on our IG or Patreon - BS's video interface isn't great. sacredderis.com

This is a Polaroid of Jim Ward- considered the granddaddy of the piercing industry- piercing the nipple of “Rufus of Rochester” - late 1970s or early 80s. Note the thimble on Jim’s finger; early piercing needles were considerably less sharp than their modern counterparts. http://sacreddebris.com

This is a colored pencil study for a tattoo by Don Ed Hardy. I consider Ed the most important folk artist of the 20th Century and the coolest I've ever felt was when Ed knew my name. I'm not cool, but for a second...

This is TRASH: True Revelations and Strange Happenings. Published by Mr. Trash (aka tattooer John Dagion) and featuring questionably true stories about truckers, bikers, carnies, and rough trade.

This is Larry and Mary- Hackensack 1975. A “t&p” party was a tattoo & piercing party. Some were play events. Others potlucks. I often say body piercing history is queer history and that’s true, but it’s not the whole story. Swingers, eccentrics, mystics, leathermen and women made up the scene.

I’m so happy about this new tattoo by @melofmontreal.bsky.social

This is a GIP flier for tattooists Guy Aitchison and Jack Kaplan- approx 1991. sacreddebris.com

This is a 1990s flier for tattoo artists Guy Aitchison and Mad Jack Kaplan. sacreddebris.com