Tattooed by The Family Business

The Family Business is the kind of name that immediately conjures a warm image in your mind, back to a time when you could wander down a cobbled high street during market day, breathing the life and soul of a quintessential little village. To learn then that ‘The Family Business’ is in fact a tattoo parlour, one that encompasses its founder’s Italian heritage through the stunning décor featuring religious iconography and a rockabilly attitude, may be news to those not into their ink, but founder and artist Mo Coppoletta sought to provide an alternative from the seedy hack-job ‘artists’ of less-reputable tattoo firms. His mission was to create a welcoming firm in the heart of a community, a task which he succeeded in completing in 2003.

Photograph by Fredi Marcarini

‘Tattooed by The Family Business’ is a compendium of the progress and work of traditionalist Mo Coppoletta and his team of highly skilled artists. Each eye-catching page takes time to turn, heavy with glossy works of art glowing with finesse, a magnifying glass highlighting the talent of a few accomplished workers. The first chapter ‘ The Family’, contains a series of portraits of the artists at work that encompass the friendly ethos of ‘The Family Business’.

Photograph by Fredi Marcarini

The artists are set against a background of exquisitely drawn tracings of past and future tattoos, each unique and painstakingly worked on. In latter chapters the focus of the photography leans exclusively towards the art itself. Traditional Asian art featuring dragons, carp and lotus flowers, and depictions of religious iconography are intertwined with occasional replicas of the tracings themselves. This small touch adds life to the book, allowing you to feel closer to the artists work especially when surrounded with case-study like pages of the clientèle that have passed through Mo’s doors.

Photograph by Chris Terry

Seven years on, ‘Tattooed by The Family Business’ serves as a testament to the hard graft of traditionalist Mo Coppoletta, a true representation of the finesse surrounding ‘The Family Business’
Photograph by Chris Terry

Words by Julian von Nehammer

Book Photography by Fredi Marcarini and Chris Terry

Tattooed By The Family Business – £30.00. Available from September