KILLS STRAIGHT

I find prison tattoos the most captivating of all tattoos. Prisoners often use homemade tools. The tattoo machine may be motorized by an electric motor from a hair clipper. A paper clip or guitar string may be used as a needle.

Prisoners concoct their own ink. The work is done in secret. There is greater risk of infection. Meaning and symbolism within the work often run deep. It is not unusual for the inmates of a specific prison to have their own tattoo traditions.

Tattoos of the more common: a spiderweb, usually on the elbow, represents serious time incarcerated, perhaps a life sentence. A teardrop under the eye may represent a serious crime committed, loss of a close friend or family member, or a long sentence. Three dots may represent mi vida loca, my crazy life. 4 dots fashioned in a square with a fifth inside represents a person trapped inside prison walls.

Much of the work, however, is highly unique to the individual, and it is not uncommon for each tattoo to tell a story, the person's story whose skin they rest on.

"I did 16 years," Kills Straight shared with me, "they are all prison tattoos," and in the streets of Rapid City, South Dakota he revealed to me the stories forever inked on his hands, arms, and torso.