Street Culture: Ink-N-Iron Festival
From across our spinning blue marble, tattoo and hot rod enthusiasts dressed in their rockabilly best gathered for three days of bands, burlesque, beer and some unparalleled people-watching at the Ink-n-Iron Festival aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach this past weekend. Mixing sex and old-school propriety, the style on hand -- like the tattoos on many of its wearers -- seems to require a unique commitment among its followers. There’s no rolling out of bed and out into public for this crew. And once you’ve acquired something like two sleeves-full of ink, there’s no going back.
Pictured here: Steven and Rebecca Lowry of Los Angeles were among the first arrivals for the second day of festivities on Saturday, June 6. (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)
China Henson of Arizona, left, and Stephanie Frank of Washington State are best friends, regularly meeting up at conventions. Frank’s husband is a tattoo artist, her 9-month-old son Landon Fulcher is along for the ride. (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)
Anne Lindfjeld of Denmark and Renata Bresciani of Miami were at the festival to compete in the Pin-up Pageant. The two said because the women in the pageant often already know one another and will likely need to work with each other sometime in the future, the competition is more friendly than cut-throat. “It’s all fun and games,” Lindfjeld said. (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)
Roxanne Diaz of Los Angeles has been collecting tattoos for about five years, since she was 17 years old. Her first two were of three roses on each shoulder to symbolize the three other members of her family -- her mom, dad and sister. (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)
Arturo “Churro” Becera and brothers Jesus “Chuy” Perez and Felipe “Pico” Perez --all of Santa Barbara -- came for the cars and atmosphere. (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)
Shawn and Alissa Nutting of Las Vegas were at the festival to collect more tattoos and visit with friends. Shawn is a tattoo artist. Alissa is a teacher who easily keeps her ink hidden from view during class-time by just wearing a pair of pants. (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)
Fushia Foxxx is a burlesque dancer based out of Seattle and is often on the road. “The burlesque scene is huge. So there’s always somewhere to go,” she said. Foxxx added she enjoyed seeing so many people like herself (for once she and her friends weren’t alone in wearing fake eyelashes) at the festival. (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)
Rachel Nimitz of Los Angeles and James Holland of
Hot rods were arranged like a cache of glimmering iron jewels in the Spruce Goose Dome. Judging categories included West Coast Kustoms, MoFos, Poor Boys and Cavaliers. (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)
Hailing from around Wasco and Bakersfield, Christian Vallejo along with brother and sister Peter and Lupita Melgoza and husband and wife Luis and Denisse Normandin took a look at the cars. (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)
Adriana Dolor and Lorraine Payan smartly sported a parasol and wide-brimmed hat on what turned out to be a dazzlingly bright day. Dolor was on hand as part of the Pinup Angels, a group that raises funds to send care packages to American troops abroad through the sale of pin-ups. (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)
Kimo Delgado is a high school senior in Los Angeles. (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)
Nicole Marie and Myke Chamers -- a tattoo artist -- came from Austin,
The festival was the first of its kind attended by
Crystal Merton, left, and Claudia Rivas were among a number of Las Vegas residents to attend the festival. (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)
Danielle Rodriguez, left, and Karmen Aghazarian of Los Angeles were “having a blast,” Aghazarian said. (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)
Chris Block and Makani Terror are tattoo artists in Oberhausen, Germany. Michelle Star is from Los Angles. (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)
Lauren Stallama and Cameron Nitscheke decided two weeks ago to catch a plane and come to the festival from Brisbane, Australia. “There’s nothing like this in Australia,” Nitscheke said. (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)
Shane and Gina Schuster are paramedics in Las Vegas. When not running around saving lives, Shane also works on hot rods as a hobby. (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)
Jose Funes, Lana Maciel, Chris Gutierrez and Veronica Alvarado are Los Angeles residents. For the past year Funes and Gutierrez have been working on a 1954 Cadillac that once they’re done will be a little lower to the ground than originally intended and midnight blue. (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)
Jim Sylvia, a tattoo artist and Kristen Wharton, a model, are from Hollywood. (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)
Matt and Mari Casioce of Riverside were at the festival for the weekend. “We’ve been here since yesterday,” Matt said Saturday. (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)
Gino Benavidez and Andrea Elliot of
Ruben Kaiban and Matt Montalto of the Long Beach-based band the Commotions were at the festival to hear their friends play in their own bands. (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)
Kelly Harrison, Morgan Deeble and Maggie Silva of
Andrew Wright and Jen Roomes of Victoria, South Africa, said the festival isn’t something you’d find in their home country. “I’m in Seventh Heaven.” (Tara Godvin / Los Angeles Times)
Cardinal Cyn of Austin,