This practice, inspired by tribal tattoos, is not new. In his studio in Singapore, Chester Lee, considered the leader, has been proposing it for five years. Northside Tattooz and Second City Tattoo Club, in London, followed suit. If it has been around for years, why is the “blackout” just breaking out today?  "The taste for black surfaces is acquired over time," explains Chester Lee to Mic.

The blackout, camouflage method

At first, " blackwork " was used more as camouflage than as decoration. Clients asked for a black surface to cover a tattoo they no longer wanted. The method may seem radical, you need  "Many hours of work" and it is  "Very painful," confesses Chester Lee. But it is still a good alternative to laser, an expensive medical technique (up to € 200 per session) and that does not always give the expected results. Even if the ink fades well, it can leave indelible scars.

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Little by little, this kind of black screen was seen by tattoo lovers as something aesthetic. Linjojo'z, the woman seen on Chester's Instagram post, is one example.  "I like the idea of having parts of my body completely blackened," he writes on his account. For Chester, who has himself a quarter of his face with  blackout, this technique, which advocates simple lines, reached  "The purest form of tattoo art", and ends up being one more element in the minimalist trend observed in fashion and design.

For Maxime Buchi, founder of the Sang Bleu studio in London, the backout is just the logical continuation of the success that tattooing has had for years,  "A kind of golden age"  of the tattoo, he told  The Guardian.  Now that the youngsters got used to the needles,  "More and more people are going towards extreme forms." To the point of filling with ink, in some cases, almost the entire body.