WARNING!!!
Post contains graphic images of hooks impaled through skin, and blood.
Do not read further if you are disturbed by this kind of content.
Seriously, these are images I shot at a Tattoo Convention a few years ago. If this is not your thing please do not read further as the images *are* quite graphic, there is a lot of blood visible. Probably not suitable for children.
OK I did warn you, so on with the images. I have been wanting to share these with a wider audience but due to the graphic nature of them haven’t tried before. This was the first time I had seen suspension in action and I was fascinated. They were happy for me to photograph and let me get really close and take a lot of shots.
I wanted to show up close what this was really like, how far into the skin it went. That the blood was flowing freely in some places.
You can see on the image above the marks they use to get correct alignment for the most comfortable and safe setup. I was impressed at how much care was taken in preparation before the hooks were inserted. Everyone being suspended was helping everyone else, so they were reliant on the other person doing a good job. This is not something you could easily do by yourself, in my opinion.
Above you clearly see the alignment marks, and also a good idea of how big the hook really is – it would be a good 3 inches long from the base of the hook to the top of the loop.
I spent a lot of time processing these images, I wanted to bring out the intensity of the tattoo colours and the redness of the blood. Also spent a long time working on the tonings of the metal hooks, focussing on the shiny slightly threatening look to them. Its all about visual impact, one of the reasons I cropped so heavily as well, you have no choice but to see what there is to see.
I wanted these images to have a powerful visceral feel, that you could imagine the cold metal hook impaling itself through your skin and then slowly warming as it stayed there.
When I walked into the display the above image is what I saw, two guys about 20-30 feet in the air, hanging from a couple of cranes. The guy on the right features in one of the images above, taken after he was brought down.
They were up there for a while, longer than 5-10 minutes.
This is not my thing, but I found it fascinating. I chatted to the guys as I photographed them, they were happy to let me take photos (I have sent them copies but had no other response which is a shame). It was a interesting experience and a challenging one to photograph, as I had this really cool day, with great photos but nowhere to share them and get any feedback.
So if you *have* got this far and don’t think I am insane for doing this, LOVE to hear what you thought of the images. Has anyone else shot this kind of thing (I am sure there must be)
Hope I didn’t squick you too much 
Tattoos and piercings seem to be a particular fascination of a certain set of photographers. I too am really fascinated by piercings even though I’m totally squeamish about such things. Perhaps that’s why I’m fascinated. I’ve got a small collection of photos of the process of being tattooed and pierced, but I haven’t posted any yet (still collecting). It’s really interesting talking to the people involved.
Great photos, tho and certainly at the extreme end of the genre (?). Well done.
Hey Peter, thanks for your comments. Yes I think this is fairly far towards the more extreme end of the genre indeed. Tattoos fascinate me as an art form (I have one myself) but piercings are not really my thing. The people who really get into this at the artistic end of the scale are often really interesting talented people. I would love to do more work in this space
I’m just starting to study suspension, since I run a blog on body modification it’s a must, and these pictures are great! I learned a bit about suspension by looking at these, thanks.
Glad my pictures were of assistance, and thanks for the reblog. I have some more images up on my Flickr page that weren’t in the blog post
Not sure if this link will work
http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=20086657@N00&q=suspension
Search for Suspension in my photostream.
Reblogged this on Enthusiastically Modified and commented:
Beautiful suspension pictures
Hurts just to look at it! Some people in India pull temple chariots with hooks pierced into their backs quite like this! Great shots.
That sounds painful. I asked the guys if it hurt and they said no, that the endorphins kicked in. Personally I think it must hurt a bit, esp when they put the hooks in