PRISON TATTOO MACHINE 004

Private collection
PRISON TATTOO MACHINE 004
Private collection

Collection

  • American Prison System

Origin

Wyoming Correctional Facility
New York, USA

Medium

Electric motor, metal, plastic pen body, electrical wire, and electrical tape

Association

Manufactured and used by an incarcerated individual for tattooing within the Wyoming Correctional Facility in New York.

Description

Improvised prison tattoo machine constructed around a plastic pen body serving as the handpiece, with a small electric motor mounted near the top and secured with multiple layers of black electrical tape. The machine features a two-prong connector for attachment to an external power adapter and a metal needle tube extending from the lower end. The taped construction and improvised assembly reflect the resourcefulness of prison-made tattoo equipment, assembled from salvaged electronic components and readily available materials to produce a functional tattooing device.

PRISON TATTOO MACHINE 004

1/4

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550BC is an independent publishing house based in Amsterdam, founded in 2018. Specializing in the complex realities of organized crime and conflict, we explore these subjects through the lens of visual anthropology. Our photo books provide rare, first-person perspectives from within otherwise inaccessible worlds, often created in direct collaboration with those involved. 550BC is also home to a private collection of over 2,000 unique physical items, preserved artifacts from the worlds we document. A selection is presented in our online archive.

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