Trends

Ted Szukalski · February 9, 2007

I must admit I am often fascinated with sub cultures and youth trends. In recent years piercing took quite a center stage and many young people have some piercings starting from multiple ear studs, via tongue, lip, nose and eyebrow to more esoteric back of the neck studs. It looks painful and I guess it is painful. This young man allowed me to take his portrait near Sydney Town Hall.

To see a bigger image or EXIF click on the photo or the link

salazar · February 9, 2007

I can't quite make it out Ted. What does he have in his ear?

Ted Szukalski · February 9, 2007

It is a plastic ring. They start with a small diameter and insert bigger ones with time.
fragment-IMG_20070209_6591.jpg

Here is a better image from a jewlery website:

salazar wrote:

I can't quite make it out Ted. What does he have in his ear?

CarnalSigh · February 9, 2007

It looks more like a bottle cap to me. They are pretty popular as ear rings.

Owen · February 10, 2007

They're called plugs.. ear stretching - self mutiliation at it's most primitive.

When it was freeeezing cold in NYC, I was saw some people with them in, and worried about the small amount of tissue around the bottom of the plug freezing, and actually cracking/breaking off... that would hurt so bad!

NicoleB · February 10, 2007

Ouch, that indeed doesn't look too healthy, but if they wanna do it, go for it *scratches her head...*
I can just imagine me having such a thing and playing with my crazy dogs....uh, not good

Cool shots though!

colourbox · February 10, 2007

The comments on the photo are an interesting study in perceptual relativism. We're totally focused on the concept of "painful mutilation" in a bit of ear-stretching, but ironically, we don't mention how he's also smoking a cigarette and his arm is in a cast!

The whole of the portrait is as interesting as the detail.

Ted Szukalski · February 10, 2007

The ear gauge was not what attracted me to him, nor was the ciggaret (I really detest these). Amusingly and omitted from the comment it was his hat as it is so rare to see any one let alone a young person wear these during Sydney summer.

colourbox wrote:

The comments on the photo are an interesting study in perceptual relativism. We're totally focused on the concept of "painful mutilation" in a bit of ear-stretching, but ironically, we don't mention how he's also smoking a cigarette and his arm is in a cast!

The whole of the portrait is as interesting as the detail.

jamism · February 10, 2007

ha haa, love this pic and the comments on it.

i dont know how old every one is here but i am 19 and many of my friends have a plug, some bigger then others (one can fit a toilet paper roll in it). my personal thoughts are.. its neat. i personally would not do it only because i dont think it would look good on me. but when my friends come over to my place and my parents see them with all there tattoos and plugs and such, they get, i think, the greatest look on there face!

. so anyway, good picture.

oh yeah, and i dont know about freezing and breaking, but one of my friends did gage his too far too fast and it broke. so he got reconstructive surgery and started gaging it again. ha haa.

LilleG · February 10, 2007

Ubangi ears?

System · February 10, 2007

colourbox wrote:

The comments on the photo are an interesting study in perceptual relativism. We're totally focused on the concept of "painful mutilation" in a bit of ear-stretching, but ironically, we don't mention how he's also smoking a cigarette and his arm is in a cast!

The whole of the portrait is as interesting as the detail.

hah!-

very good point re the cig, cb-

and I agree re the photo-

Ted Szukalski · February 10, 2007

Jamism, I'm 45 and this photo was not about passing judgment it was just observation on current trends - thus the title. Gauging and tattoos are nothing new. In a way it is a neo-primitivism, as for 1000s of years many tribes did exactly the same in the name of customs or initiations.

Purpose of such activity in today's world however is a bit harder to understand.

jamism wrote:

ha haa, love this pic and the comments on it.

i dont know how old every one is here but i am 19 and many of my friends have a plug, some bigger then others (one can fit a toilet paper roll in it). my personal thoughts are.. its neat. i personally would not do it only because i dont think it would look good on me. but when my friends come over to my place and my parents see them with all there tattoos and plugs and such, they get, i think, the greatest look on there face! . so anyway, good picture.

oh yeah, and i dont know about freezing and breaking, but one of my friends did gage his too far too fast and it broke. so he got reconstructive surgery and started gaging it again. ha haa.

jamism · February 10, 2007

Ted Szukalski wrote:

Jamism, I'm 45 and this photo was not about passing judgment it was just observation on current trends - thus the title. Gauging and tattoos are nothing new. In a way it is a neo-primitivism, as for 1000s of years many tribes did exactly the same in the name of customs or initiations.

Purpose of such activity in today's world however is a bit harder to understand.

im not saying that you were passing judgment, i was just saying i liked the convo.

i know its not new by any means. and if that is how the youth, me, and others wish to express ourselves then so be it. i dont know why you brought the negitave undertone of "NEO-PRIMITIVISM" into this.

thanks though.

Ted Szukalski · February 10, 2007

Neo-primitivism is just a term to describe a new (neo) return to a primitive art in this cases tattoos and gauging. It is not meant to be negative but rather descriptive of trend in art or in this case trend in youth culture.

jamism wrote:

im not saying that you were passing judgment, i was just saying i liked the convo.

i know its not new by any means. and if that is how the youth, me, and others wish to express ourselves then so be it. i dont know why you brought the negitave undertone of "NEO-PRIMITIVISM" into this.

thanks though.

Alaska shutterbug · February 10, 2007

colourbox wrote:

The comments on the photo are an interesting study in perceptual relativism. We're totally focused on the concept of "painful mutilation" in a bit of ear-stretching, but ironically, we don't mention how he's also smoking a cigarette and his arm is in a cast!

The whole of the portrait is as interesting as the detail.

He's smoking - ahh! I guess I didn't look close enough, I thought he was picking his nose, and actually wondered why he would let someone take a picture of him picking his nose!

All that aside, nice photo!

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