Photo by Craig Burton
Maxime Buechi knows tattoo couture and is bringing his classic design and typographic background to tattoo aficionados who prefer their journals in the art section and not among car and karate mags.
In creating the new tattoo-centered publication entitled Sang Bleu, meaning blue blood, Maxime evokes nobility--ala our 'highbrow for the underground' mantra--as well as tattoo's foundation: ink and plasma.
Case in point: at the London Tattoo Convention a preview copy of Sang Bleu was offered as a tease. Right away friends came up to me, fluffing its pages in my face excited to, as they said, read a tattoo pub in public without any embarrassment. They're tattoo snobby like that.
The look and feel is indeed different. Clean and sober with a readily apparent focus on exceptional photography, including the work of Craig Burton (shown here), Alexis Zavialoff, and Adrian Wilson among many others.
That's an important distinction from today's tattoo magazines, where the focus is on the tattoos, not necessarily the wearers. Not taking away from those tattoo-specific photographers at all--ask any tattoo artist, it is damn difficult to get a good photo of a tattoo that's true to the work. Sang Bleu just offers a different perspective on the art. Maxime explained to me in an email:
"I love the design side of tattoos, but before everything, the whole question to me is how does a certain tattoo work on a certain person, and that's the type of reflection I'm trying to bring in with SB. There are enough quality tattoo publications that deal with designs, I'm not trying to compete with them."
There's also a sexy fashion component to the journal, edited by Audrey Rasper and Greardo de Maio, rivaling the haute and hip styling of Paper, I-D, Vice ... tattooed hipsters rejoice! Professional make-up artist Philippe Miletto is on board along with a crew of about fifty people supporting Sang Bleu's success.
If 'Issue Zero' is any indication, Sang Bleu II will be a must-have with over 300 pages, almost no advertising, with profiles including, among many others, Hori Ren of Tokyo, Wido de Marval of Switzerland, Frith Street in London, NY Adorned, as well as convention coverage of the London and Montreal shows.
This issue is due out in December and can purchased online via info@sang-bleu.com or at locations worldwide listed on the Sang Bleu MySpace page.
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