Sad Mag loves Kathryn Mussallem. She’ll be part of our next issue, she has “cool” written all over her (not literally, but she is tattooed!) and she’s been given the title “social biographer” in TONIGHT’s project: “SKIN & BONE: Salty Sailor Tales.” It’s “an evening of saucy stories, history, and discovery at the Vancouver Maritime Museum” and Kathryn will be making a splash. Sad Mag’s going to be there, and you should be too!
Sad Mag: Salty Sailor Tales describes you as a “social biographer”: What does that mean? How do you conceive of your role?
Kathryn Mussallem: Well I didn’t title myself that but I do think it fits. My photography for this project is mainly street portraiture, but in these quick meetings on street corners, outside of bars and on ships, or other brief encounters I hope show a small glimpse of the personality of each sailor, whether it be them hard at work on a ship or drunk off their asses fresh into port and charged up for shenanigans. I know the names of almost every sailor that I have photographed, they are so quick to tell me everything in such a short amount of time and I hope that the images convey just a glimpse of who these boys are. I have spent the last 2 years following the US Navy from port to port and making a few friends in between.
SM: What prompted your interest in tattoos?
KM: I have the requisite “I was coming of age in the 90s” shameful tattoo that I’ve had for almost 20 years, so from a very young age I was fascinated with the subculture associated with tattooing specifically nautical tattoos. Sailors brought tattooing to the world and these souvenirs acted as a reminder of their time at sea and in the not so savory ports of call. I now am covered in quite a few tattoos, all of the traditional nautical variety and my favourite a small anchor on my ankle that I got from a sailor on a ship in New Orleans. I met some sailors one night drunk on the street, one of them liked my tats he told me that he tattooed and that he should tattoo me and of course I said yes. I think he thought I was kidding but the next day I texted him to arrange a session. So in an electrical shop on the USS Wasp in New Orleans Louisiana I got a tattoo from a sailor. A tattoo should always be a reminder of something, it should represent a moment in your life, a struggle you have overcome, a journey or an adventure you have had.
You can see Kathryn at Skin and Bone TONIGHT, along with curator Patricia Owen, tattoo artist Chris Hold, and Charles H. Scott Gallery curator Cate Rimmer in dicussion about the idea of erotic imagery and taboo concepts in the sailor arts of tattoos and scrimshaw.
Vancouver Maritime Museum – 6:30PM – 10:00PM – for tickets, Eventbrite