“Dark-skinned clients come to the tattoo artist without dermatological knowledge”

Many black or mixed race people report bad experiences when getting tattooed. While a seminar on this topic is being organized in Paris this weekend, tattoo artist Dimitri Andrew for “Libé” describes in detail the consequences of prejudice against these dark-skinned people.

In France, tattooing has moved from the margins to the center. That’s 13 million individuals passionate about this practice that transcends origin, social status, age (one in three young people under 35) and gender. It seems that this multi-millennial practice, globalized and a priori unifying, is still met with stubborn prejudices about dark skin. “Black skin is too thick” ; “Red won’t show on dark skin.” To try to dispel these preconceived notions, two tattoo artists, Just Pigment (Dimitri Andrew, 25 years old) and Therapi (Pauline Gomes, 26 years old), co-founded the Afroderm salon, “the first tattoo convention for people with dark and mixed skin color”. The event will take place this weekend at Maison Python in Paris (19th century). On the program is an interactive seminar to demystify beliefs about dark skin and eleven tattoo artists who will have flashes (models already available from tattoo artists) adapted to all shades.

Dimitri Andrew, who has been practicing for eight years, offers suggestions for greater consideration of black and mixed-race skin issues.

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