Coney Island Ink

Starting in the mid 1980s, Sideshows by the Seashore on the legendary Coney Island Boardwalk hosted an event distinct from its usual fare of sword-swallowers, contortionists, and other marvels: the Annual Coney Island Tattoo Festival, which gathered together tattoo enthusiasts of every walk of life from all over the city, the country, and eventually, the world. It also drew a photographer from the Bronx with a fascination for tattooing, at a time when the art form was illegal in NYC and widely condemned as part of a dangerous fringe culture. For several years, Thomas Santelli served as the festival’s “unofficial official photographer,” documenting this lively, colourful event and the remarkable people who attended it. In this book, he shares approximately 200 of his black-and-white and colour portraits from the festival, to celebrate the tattooing community and this slice of Coney Island history and to honour all of the people who graciously sat for his camera.