PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER

In the beginning there was just one person living on the earth and he was named Adam. He was a very happy and well-adjusted fellow because there was no one around to say otherwise and also because he never had to contend with any traumatic childhood memories whatsoever. In fact, he never even had a childhood, but rather began life as a fully functioning adult. Even so, he began with more childlike wonder than anyone who has ever lived, just as surely as he was forced to carry a great deal more regret than the worst villain in any story. Such is the stuff of which fascinating tales are made, however, and it’s about time someone got this particular story straight once and for all.

Now as the first human, Adam was designed and then brought into existence by Creator, who has over time acquired more different names than anyone could ever need. It might be best if we just stick with Creator here, I think.

Creator, as the name implies, really, really, really enjoys making things. And while the things he makes seem simple enough from a distance, nearly everything Creator creates is very precise and extremely complicated. So complicated, in fact, that the smartest people who have ever lived with the help of the biggest computers ever built and using some of the coolest machines ever manufactured still cannot figure out how and why Creator’s creation works the way it does. So even though much of creation (that’s what we call Creator’s designed and finished product – “creation”) is simple enough for most people to understand, some parts will apparently always remain just beyond human ability to really explain to anyone’s lasting satisfaction. Gravity, bumblebees and wave-particle duality come to mind here.

To keep Adam safe and occupied with making healthy life choices, Creator gave his very first human a lovely green garden in which to live. It was stocked with mostly friendly animals, scenic vistas and plenty of vegetation, much of which was delicious to eat year round. Creator was overly generous and even let Adam name all of the animals absolutely anything he wanted (“gnu,” in case you were wondering, is an acronym). However, and this part is rather integral to the story, Adam was instructed that he could eat just about anything that grew in the garden except for the fruit of one particular tree called “the tree of good and evil.” That was the one exclusive part of the rather sizable garden area where Creator told Adam to stay away. You will quickly observe that the garden was a pretty simple setup for the first man. Enjoy yourself and your surroundings every day you are here, but whatever you do, do not eat from that one tree over there in the corner. What could possibly go wrong?

The scarification process now known as tattooing most likely goes back to at least the Neolithic age (the New Stone Age). Tattooing probably also has a prehistoric beginning. The tattoos frequently displayed by modern aborigines are thought to reflect skin designs from the Neolithic ancestors of modern Europeans. It is amazing to think these designs are thought to date back twenty millennia or more. The oldest verifiable example of tattooing goes back five thousand years to the frozen, mummified remains of the “Ice Man” of Central Europe, a frozen legacy in tattoo history. As with any historical topic there are assumptions interwoven with fact, but the “Ice Man” is a factual example of the vast history of this art form.

Further back in history, we can see evidence of tattoos on Egyptian mummies. These specimens date back up to four millennia ago and many believe they represent the true beginning of recorded tattoo history. The tattooed mummies are all female so it has been speculated that they were courtesans and that the tattoos served to identify this social strata of ancient Egypt.

After Ancient Eygpt came the Graeco-Roman world, which did not practice tattooing except as a means of labelling slaves. The Greeks and Romans looked upon this practice as being too barbaric, but not for slaves, illustrating the low level of feeling towards these unfortunate people. Celtic and Germanic tribes of the same era, whom the Romans considered to be uncivilised barbarians, extensively engaged in tattooing. The Picts, various tries who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland, did something entirely unique in tattoo history by painting their entire bodies the colour blue.

During medieval Europe is it is widely accepted that the art of tattooing became dormant. Catholic beliefs of the time forbade body ornamentation. Tattoos were condemned as being primitive and Pagan. Meanwhile other parts of the world such as Asia, Polynesia and what would become North and South America, tattooing was celebrated. Tattoo history was kept alive during the European Middle Ages by Asiatic and Polynesian cultures. The Maori of New Zealand developed elaborate spiral tattoos on the face and body that were an integral aspect of their religious beliefs. At this time the art was refined, becoming integrated with sacred religious rites and rituals. Many believe term tattoo we use today comes from the Tahitian Polynesian word tatu, which means to mark.