Whether good, bad or ugly, tattoos represent a moment in time, a feeling or sometimes a bit too much alcohol in someone’s system. Getting inked can mean a lot, or very, very little, to the owner of the art. Every tattoo has a story, and UBC students have a breadth of stories to share — all permanently ingrained into their skin.
100 lb Gertie
![['auto']](https://storage.googleapis.com/ubyssey/media/renditions/octopus_tattoo.original.png)
“Her name is Gertie, like Gertrude but short.”
“I lost 100 pounds, and giant pacific octopuses can weigh up to 120 pounds — they average around 100. Plus I just like them, they’re weird, kooky creatures.”
— Alex
Save the bees
![['auto']](https://storage.googleapis.com/ubyssey/media/renditions/bees_tattoo.original.png)
“A lot of people are really surprised when I tell them it’s a stick and poke. It gets worse the closer you look, but from about that far away it's not too bad.”
“I got it September of this year at about 12 a.m. in a Walter Gage dorm room. We were drunk and bored. ... We both really like bees — save the bees.”
![['auto']](https://storage.googleapis.com/ubyssey/media/renditions/island_tattoo.original.png)
“This one was back in high school.”
— Jackson
Strong like an ox
![['']](https://storage.googleapis.com/ubyssey/media/renditions/flower_ox_tattoo_.original.png)
“It’s the head of an ox because I was born in the Chinese zodiac year of the ox. Ox are strong and cool, I think they are very aspirational creatures. I would love to be strong like an ox.”
— JJ
Accidental erection
![['']](https://storage.googleapis.com/ubyssey/media/renditions/ox_penis_tattoo.original.png)
“I was drunk and I was trying to hail a cab for my friend and I tripped over this curb and fell into a bush. The bush had page wire in it. ... It was over six months ago, and so this is now a permanent addition to the tattoo.”
“It’s funny because no one pointed out that it looked like an erect penis on the ox, but I noticed it and so now I point it out to people.”
— Joshua
Do you have tattoos you’d like to share with Skin Deep? Contact culture@ubyssey.ca to set up an interview and photoshoot. All participants will have first name anonymity.