Bieke Depoorter: Night journeys in Sète

Bieke Depoorter is a photographer and associate member of Magnum Photos. She works mainly on autonomous projects, including travelling through Russia and photographing subjects whose houses she had stayed in for a single night.

Christian Caujolle (associate professor at the National Superior School Louis Lumière, specialising in film, sound engineering and photography) explains that in Night journeys in Sète  Bieke does not follow routes planned out for her, but instead makes her own path. He comments on her subject matter, her form and the ways we can interpret her art:

Faced with images that are free, enigmatic or descriptive, but which can never be limited to one single interpretation, we stop, just as the woman visitor had to stop.

No stereotype, not even an informative one. No acceptance of technical constraints: it is the night that best reveals the light, and not the sun-drenched town.

The mystery deepens when we see that these elements grabbed from reality are naturally structured to found a story of which we do not know the scenario, of which we can only follow the inexplicably harmonious thread as it seems to feed on digressions or chance.

Free photographers, like free travellers, get to know themselves in what they experience of elsewhere and of others. Happy is he who, like Ulysses or Bieke Depoorter, has been on a beautiful voyage..

The Horror Issue: Meg Langdale

The Horror Issue of Things&Ink features a music playlist by apprentice tattooer 28-year-old Meg Langdale. We visited Meg at The Burton Tattoo Collective in Leiceter for an evening filled with creepy yet cute kewpies. As our editorial assistant Rosie was being tattooed, we chatted to Meg about her developing style, how she started out and her tattoo collection… 

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What first attracted you to the tattoo world?
I’ve always known I wanted to do something creative but I just wasn’t too sure what. I did a fashion and design degree at university, and at the time all the design and illustration jobs I looked at just seemed like glorified office jobs, which wasn’t for me. Tattooing has given me the freedom I wanted creatively and in an environment I feel comfortable. I think my illustration work was the stepping stone into the tattoo world. Meeting my boyfriend, who is a tattoo artist, of course had a huge influence. I feel like it’s what I was meant to do, it maybe just took me a little longer than others to realise.

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How did you get your apprenticeship?
I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity by my boyfriend, which I will be forever grateful for. I started my apprenticeship in September last year and I’ve only been tattooing around four months. So far I have really enjoyed tattooing lots of floral pieces, but a lot of my illustrations are quite dark and creepy, I want to bring this into my tattooing. None of it would have been possible if it hadn’t been for the support from my whole family. I feel very lucky how things have worked out.

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How would you describe your style?
My style is still evolving but its super illustrative, and it includes flaws and imperfections. I really want my tattoos to look like illustrations. When I draw, I like that my designs aren’t perfect, don’t get me wrong I spend hours drawing and redrawing designs. But I sometimes like the little wobbles in lines and lack of symmetry. I also weirdly like tiny little flaws in my own tattoos. I’m lucky enough to have some beautiful pieces down by amazing artists but I quite like that in most tattoos you can find tiny little imperfections. It’s not a question of liking or having bad tattoos, mine are perfect to me and I love them. But I think flaws make them real. I’m not perfect and neither are my tattoos.

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What inspires you?
I’m really critical of myself and my work, so that in itself inspires me to want to keep improving and keep pushing myself. I really hope to be respected as an artist by other artists too, and not just for drawing pretty stuff. I want to be able to put in solid lines, and produce really nice quality tattoos.
I also collect old reference books; I adore medical illustrations in old anatomy books, and simple line drawings in books of wild flowers. I like combining quite delicate floral stuff with elements of darker stuff. I’d much rather draw from real life or old books than have to rely on the internet.

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How did it feel doing your first tattoo?
Terrifying. I tattooed pig skin a lot to build my confidence initially. Then myself which was just dreadful. It’s so hard to overcome inflicting pain on yourself to focus on putting in decent lines. My first tattoo on someone other than myself was on Dane’s brother in law, it was so nerve wracking. He’s always been really supportive of my work and was quick to offer up some skin for me to practice on. At the same time I just remember thinking this is it, this is what I’m going to be doing forever now. I get nervous before I tattoo, but I’m always fine once I start and I just get into my little zone. My confidence has definitely been one of my biggest hurdles.

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Can you tell us about the tattoos on your body?
My own tattoos are a combination of styles, mostly black and grey. Weirdly enough I don’t have any that are that similar to my own style, but I’m saving my right arm for lots of illustrative floral bits and bones, I’m just undecided on who I want to do it yet. I’ve been lucky enough to get tattooed by some amazing artists in the last couple of years, and of course Dane, he’s done a lot of my favourite pieces. I do have a few colour tattoos too, currently no plans for any more, although I had considered having some really muted colours on my legs in-between lots of black of course.

Photographs by William Kirk 

Pastel Paradise: Lemon Freckles

Toni or Lemon Freckles is a 30-year-old illustrator and blogger from Sheffield who lives in a pastel paradise of pink hair, her pugs and girl gang inspired drawings. We chatted to Toni to find out more about her fashion and artistic style, how she became a blogger and her tattoo collection… 

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When did you start blogging? How did you get into it? I originally started blogging around 10 years ago under a different name but Lemon Freckles is around five years old I think. At the time I was working full-time in mental health and in need of a creative outlet, blogging seemed like something I was able to do while working full-time, I didn’t really think anyone would ever read it.

What things can people expect to see on your blogA mixture of things, I like being able to share what is happening in my world; from my latest cute find to things that inspire me. I want Lemon Freckles to be a positive place, full of colour and silliness.

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Do you have a background in art? No, my degree is in mental health but I have always been a doodler. After 10 years of working in the mental health industry, I decided to take a step back and reflect on what I enjoy doing and last year I enrolled in a year long course in design. A few months ago I went self-employed full-time and it has been one of the best decisions I have made.

What inspires you? Colour and my ever so slight obsessive collecting of cute toys from my childhood. I want to bring back a little bit of that magic I left at the school gates sometime between the late 80s and early 90s. I am a firm believer that just because you’re an adult, it doesn’t mean you have to act like a grown up.

What things to do you like to draw? The more colour the better in my eyes. I love doodling toys and making characters out of everyday objects.

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What medium do you use? Pen and paper, Illustrator, whatever is to hand.

How would you describe your style, both in art and fashion? I think they are both the same, eclectic. It’s all in the detail, from the Polly Pocket earrings to the denim jacket covered in patches, the more cute the better!

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Can you tell us a little bit about your tattoos? Of course! I actually only got my first tattoo last year, which was a pug (a forever reminder of my two furry pug babies, Doug and Lola) and since then I have got three more; a My Little Pony, a Lefton, Miss Priss Kitty tea pot and a sewing related one. Sam Whitehead of Blind Eye Tattoo Company in Leeds has done all of mine and also has the same love of cuteness that I do, which makes her wonderful to work with.

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Do you think they have to have meanings? Nothing deep and meaningful I’m afraid. I get tattoos of things I love, things that make me happy and of course, the more colour the better.

Do you have any future tattoo plans? I’ve got one later this month actually, a Roly-Poly doll, which will be going on my arm. I’m wanting to get my full arm covered in cuteness over the next year, much like my style, eclectic and cute.

Come and take a seat…

Come and take a seat… in the Things&Ink pop-up photo studio, exclusively at London Tattoo Convention 2015.

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Become part of London Tattoo Convention history in a very special portrait project by Things&Ink magazine. The pop-up photo studio will be located on the upper floor in Tobacco Dock and will be set up for the duration of the convention from Friday 25 September – Sunday 27 September.

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London Tattoo Convention Floor Plan

Come and see us at the Things&Ink stand to grab a copy of The Horror Issue, as well as back issues of the magazine.

A selection of kewpies from Miniature Ink II, a collaborative exhibition with Atomica Gallery, will available to buy at the convention in the Sailor Jerry room down in the basement, with proceeds going to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.

The convention address is Tobacco Docks, 50 Porters Walk, London, E1W 2SF and the closet tube station is Shadwell.  This year the convention are providing free travel on classic London Routemaster buses, taking you from Tower Hill to Porters Walk everyday of the show from 10am- 2.30pm.

Advance tickets are available online until 12pm tonight, get yours here. You can also buy tickets on the door.

Nick Knight’s fetish inspired photoshoot

The photographer Nick Knight has created a beautiful shoot with the London based model Tessa Kuragi for AnOther magazine which has a focus on inspired realities and a persons ever changing sexual fantasies.
Knight discovered Kuragi via Instagram and became intrigued by her fascination with shibari bondage and psychoanalysis.  He then relied on her expertise and narration throughout the shoot which chartered an interesting collaboration between photographer and model.

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The most intriguing shot is of Tessa adorning some piercings over her left shoulder which were done by the talented Sean Ebb from King of Hearts tattoo studio in New Cross.

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FullSizeRenderThe entire shoot can be see over at the Show Studio website.