SCARWARS

Philip Barbosa shot this great portrait of artist Dave Gillstrap and client at SW1 in 2005. Dave had just finished the cutting on her leg and Phil decided to go for a very intimate pose to show the connection between the two. The photo loses a lot of detail with resizing, but take note of Dave’s torso scarification. (and his painted toenails)

I met Philip in Toronto, the evening before the first MODCON event. Shannon and I had thrown around the names of plenty of well known photographers to document the event (Joel Peter Witkin was contacted but couldn’t comply with our requests) and the job finally fell into Philip’s capable hands.

We were all so goddamn young. That was ten years ago.

Philip documented all of the Modcon events and when the time came for a portrait photographer for the first Scarwars event, there was only one name on the list. Phil worked under grueling conditions for three straight 15+ hour days and produced a body of images that helped put faces to the new scarification culture.

Today is his birthday, so send him some love.

Photo of Corinna at SW1 by Philip Barbosa.

Corinna sat for a grueling all day session at the first SW event in Philadelphia. Her bamboo back piece (which was done primarily by Brian Decker with help from Jesse Villemaire) is one of the most iconic cuttings to come out of the events; quickly becoming an (copyright infringing) internet meme. “Look what your children are doing NOW” emails, blog entries complete with snarky comments… Corrie’s piece took on a life of it’s own.

Through the whole process Corrie sat like a champ; even allowing the in progress cutting to be documented at various stages throughout the day. Phil snapped this photo when the piece was complete but not cleaned up.

photo by Philip Barbosa.

To my lovely, strange, hilarious impression doing, epic story telling, sweeter than aspartame, knows more about Hinduism than Hindus and more about the Romans than the Romans and your history teacher combined, could charm the pants (habit?) off a nun boyfriend: I (and many others) love you more than the day is long and hope you have an amazing birthday/boys only meat party. I’ll be here to rub your very sore, meat filled tummy when you get home.

I have known and been very much in love with you for just under a year now and look forward to writing you silly birthday messages for your 36th, 37th, and 95th birthdays.

Now go grab your present out of the closet. I know you’ve been stalking it like a lion would a gazelle for a week now.

I first met Sara shortly after moving to Philadelphia. Brainy, adorable and as sweet as a jellybean. She was photographed at SW1 by Philip Barbosa in what we thought was going to be the next big fashion trend. It turned out we were wrong, but what can you do.

Her cutting was done by Luis Garcia in October of 2000 and was almost 5 years old when we photographed it. I’m a sucker for a simple, subtle scar; this one reminds me of Bella’s cutting in placement, simplicity and impact.

Sara had this to say back in 2000:

“It was an intense pain that followed the scalpel — I could feel the trail of the scalpel because it only hurt where it actually was. After an area was cut, the pain disappeared. I hadn’t known what to expect, but this was certainly not it. Angie played coach and kept me breathing, and Luis would ask me if I was alright every little bit. I felt loved and safe. It was very positive, and I felt connected to the other two people in the room with me. Before I knew it, the first spiral was done. Luis let me rest for a minute and commended me on my stillness. Apparently, he was expecting more reaction, and I just sat there. I started to feel a little shakiness in my extremities and told him to keep going. He leapt right in with the other spiral. It hurt a little more! But the same sensation was there, with the pain following the scalpel. I closed my eyes this time, which concerned Angie and Luis. I assured them, I was alright. I was just tired of staring at the lights. It was even more intense with my eyes closed. It was a buzz within my body as the scalpel moved. I could imagine the skin splitting, the cut white at first and then filling with blood.”

Procedural photos after the break…..

Philip Barbosa photographed my friend Lolli at SW1 . The branding on her abdomen was done with a disposable cautery pen and was fully healed when this photo was taken in May of 2005.

Healed brands can change a lot over time; the scar tissue will continue to build or break, spreading much thicker than the original strikes. More after the break….