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Photos taken at Studio Tattoo, the former tattoo studio and residence of my dear friend Sullivan Meyer in Canoga Park, CA. As you can see, it was not just a tattoo shop--also (and maybe predominantly?) a dynamic art piece with all manner of mental hot-foots scattered about. Anywhere you looked would yield some sort of visual surprise. Not only that, but the place would be different every time you visited; some differences can be seen in these photos, which were taken at different times. (Dates: rolls 25-28, 14 Feb. 1991; roll 85, 12 May 1991; roll 521, 26 March 1994.)
Sully is, to the best of my knowledge, currently not tattooing, and the shop in these photos has (alas) been closed.
Catalog Number: 28-29a Himself. Sully is an incurable camera mugger; getting a truly candid shot of him is almost impossible.
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Catalog Number: 26-38a
To the left, portrait of the artist as a young man, done by a friend.
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Catalog Number: 521-14a
Tattooing area. Toilet/shower in far left corner, kitchen and work area behind partition at center, sleeping loft above. |
Catalog Number: 26-13a
The snake cage; tattooing area [next photo] to the right. |
Catalog Numbers:
Left: 521-15a |
Right: 25-12
Two views of the snake cage, with slightly different details because they were taken at different times. Sully at one time had more than a dozen snakes. Many of them came from police officers who found them in the homes of people they had arrested, knowing that he would take care of them and that they would otherwise be destroyed. His pride and joy was "Big Mama," a beautiful 38-foot-long female boa he successfully bred. The bright area at lower center of the left photo is a feeding chamber. |
Catalog Number: 25-13
Sully sez this is a death mask of film actor Van Johnson. |
Catalog Number: 25-7
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Catalog Number: 27-34
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Catalog Numbers: Left: 26-43a Right: 27-27
Two views of the dartboard, to the right of the tattooing area. A Good Irishman's tattoo shop -- and Sully is an aggressively Good Irishman! -- would not be complete without a dart board. Desert Storm was in full swing at the time of these photos, which should be obvious. |
Catalog Number: 85-10
Title: "O GOD, Mabel--Godzilla's gotten into the Sauce again and gone out nd joined the Marines ... and what's more, he stopped by the Space Port and picked up one of those cheap android FLOOZIES! I mean, JAYzus, what's COME of this world?!" [Hard to see in the scan, but that is a small bottle of Tabasco in his paw.] |
Catalog Number: 26-39a The Infamous Hanging Hand.
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Catalog Number: 26-36a
The autoclave (heat/steam sterilizer), at the right side of the tattooing area. Before AIDS came along, autoclaves in tatto shops tended to gather cobwebs ... not so since then. |
Catalog Number: 521-4a
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Catalog Number: 26-33a
The outside front of the building has an angled, zig-zag form alternating walls with windows, and this was one of the walls. |
Catalog Number: 25-9
Although he does not work as a commercial artist, Sully is highly talented and skilled and works in many different media. These are some of his working tools, at the back of the tattooing area. |
Catalog Number: 25-43
The meters are on the power supply for the tattooing machine. |
Catalog Number: 28-32a
Skeletons again. |
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