You make a lot of good points (and I highly recommend you watch my next episode tomorrow...FNQ =)

There's a problem with some of it when it comes to actually being there from what you see on tv. When I'm a tourist traveling through Cairns and I decide that I want to get a tattoo, it's a different experience.

First impressions are everything. When there's a boatload of tattoo shops like here, you only have a brief amount of time to spend at multiple shops to check out artists work and find someone that's good. So when I walk into a shop, and there's no actual work being shown, and it's all book of flash, that's a bad sign for me. Like Obsesson, the artist does good work, but the only way I found out was to interrupt him and have him swivel a monitor around for me to look at mini facebook photos.

The other part is that people tend to get very defensive when there's a camera running (even a little point-and-shoot). They don't want their work stolen (unlikely for how I edit, but they don't know that), or that they'll get a bad rep on youtube. Either way, it takes a lot of warming up to the artists to actually be able to get good footage / interviews. This is the reason I didn't have any footage from a bunch of other shops in other cities. They flat out said to leave, or wanted to schedule something and I just didn't have the time.

So you're seeing pretty much exactly what a normal person that arrives in Carins would do. Check out shops, and make quick first impressions. In actuality, I did a little bit of asking around town for the better shops, to at least get a couple good ones in there. But your normal tourist isn't going to ask every local who the best tattooist is. They'll ask the local hostel and they'll refer them to whomever they get a cut from.

So, to anyone watching this from Cairns, I'm sorry if I "dissed" your shop, but it was for good reason. Hopefully this may awaken some people and change their mentality about broadcasting good artwork ALONG with the flash at least. Showcase your artist, not pieces of paper on a wall that no one knows if they can even pull that off.

Thanks for the comments!

.: Adam

First off, thanks for the comments. I take everything as a learning experience, and am sincerely apologetic for the way I came off to you. I still stick to what I say about how your actual tattoo art portfolios should be out instead of books of flash, or at least in addition to. The meeting was short because there was nothing to fillI didn't want to get a tattoo there. I had literally 1 hour to run into as many tattoo shops that I could find before I had to head out to the ocean and by the time I would get back, everything would be closed. I wasn't being "too cool for school" with my sun glasses on. It was a simple functional accessory. Cairns was sunny as hell out, hence the sun glasses. Do disrespect intended, and I'm sorry if it came off that way. It may also be a cultural thing, because here in NYC, no one would think anything of it. I wanted to get a tattoo, and I had to find someone with a style that I liked, and a shop I would feel comfortable getting tattooed in. I am only into custom black and grey work. The work that was shown to me was mainly color, and a lot of flash. This wasn't what I was looking for, and I had to bolt to the next one. As for the "nothing better to do with my life" part, it's kind of ironic, because I didn't' pay $1,500 to fly 25 hours to Cairns Australia to visit your shop just to point out that you have a lot of flash. I was there to go diving, and see what's going on down there. Visiting all the tattoo shops that I could was for fun. Like a hobby. BodyMod.TV is a hobby of mine. It makes absolutely no money whatsoever. I'm not doing this to trash people, or tell everyone what is right or wrong. I'm voicing my opinion on whatever is around me. And it's passive, (meaning, it's not forced onto anyone). I don't advertise at all, and it's not mandatory scholarly material. I just want to show people people and places that they may not have a chance to see. If you would like, please record an interview with your shop and it's artists. You can make it as long as you like, and I'll post it here. You can clear up any and all misconceptions that you feel I made. You can even cover other shops as well. The more the merrier! I always accept outside videos, and I think it would rock if you would share your side. I feel that it's only fair that you have your say, and I don't want to censor anything. I hope this clears some things up and I'm really looking forward to your video!

Take care,

.: Adam