Lasting memories created with ink

A ding greets customers as the door opens and closes. The dull drone of buzzing from the machines in the back mixes surprisingly well with the Metallica blasting on the speakers. Fierce tigers, panthers, smoking guns and daggers are just some of the traditional tattoos framed neatly on the walls of Taylor Street Tattoo. A wood-and-glass display case, filled with more sketches, separates the front waiting area from benches and tables in the back, where customers receive their desired ink design.

Senior Matan Diermeier-Lazar sits shirtless on one of the black folding chairs, scrolling through his Snapchat and waiting for the initial design of his tattoo to dry on his right rib cage. It’s a design he put together himself on Photoshop, and hours later, he emerges with it permanently tattooed on his torso.

With the end of high school signaling the final stage before adulthood, some students are taking the opportunity to mark their bodies forever, placing ink on their skin to remember a significant part of their lives.

Matan’s tattoo features the Chicago skyline with a reflection of mountains underneath. The city skyline, Matan said, commemorates his four years of high school  in Chicago, while the mountain reflection underneath reminds him of his love for skiing, a sport he has done for most of his life.

“I didn’t grow up in the city,” Matan said, “but I moved here for high school, and it’s definitely been an important period of my life. You make friends for life, you go through experiences, you find out what your values are, and I did that all in Chicago, so it’s a pretty emotional city for me, a lot of memories.”

Matan had been interested in tattoos ever since he turned 18 last summer, and explained that he wanted it not only for the meaning but also for the beauty that he sees in tattoos as a form of art.

John Wayne, Matan’s tattoo artist, explained there isn’t necessarily a single reason why someone would get a tattoo. It could be for the aesthetic, the memories, a form of commemoration or just something to add to the collection.

“Me personally, I went with what was meaningful first,” Mr. Wayne said, “and then you kind of get your eyes opened more and more and you just see cool art and you want to collect them. It’s like music, you don’t know why you like it sometimes, but it just strikes a chord in you.”

For senior Milo Dandy, his tattoo was also a form of family bonding.

Milo and Clara Dandy, twins, share similar tattoos with their older siblings Rafer and Wyatt, also twins. The siblings tattooed a number between one and four, in the order of birth, on their left shoulder blades.

“I think it’s a form of art, but in this case, you know, you’re putting art on yourself,” Milo said. “I also think a lot of people have individual reasons for getting tattoos, most of which are similar to why I got a tattoo, because it has a real, deep meaning to me and I’m OK with having that show on my skin. It’s something I won’t ever forget — and don’t want to forget.”

Due to her religious faith, senior Sahar Siddiqui cannot get a permanent tattoo. She has compromised and has been considering giving herself a stick-and-poke tattoo, a DIY, semi-permanent tattoo that doesn’t go as deep as a normal tattoo, allowing it to fade completely after a couple years if done correctly. Sahar sees the value in placing a meaningful piece of artwork on her body to remind her of her family, and the hardships they faced immigrating to America.

“One of the ideas that I had comes from this really big tree that I have in my house that my grandma first brought when she first came here from India to remind her of home,” Sahar said. “At the time, it was a really small seed and she had sown it into her shirt, because you aren’t allowed to bring plants from other countries. So she brought it over, and it grew, and now it’s a huge, seven-foot tree that has theses small flowers that bloom in the summertime, so I was thinking I’d get one of those little flowers just to commemorate them and the struggles they went through.”