Tattoo Talk: An Interview with Alice Snape, Editor of Things&Ink

(lamp tattoo by Claudia de Sabe)

Alice Snape, 30, writer and editor of Things&Ink

What is your personal history with tattooing? 
When my friends all started getting tattooed underage at 16, I didn’t join in. I had no interest in Chinese symbols, weird little tribal scribbles, or anything on the wall at the only tattoo shop in our small market town. But I was always intrigued by body modification, especially tattoos. I doodled tattoo ideas in notebooks, and often thought of markings I’d like to wear on my skin.

Even at the age of 21, I’d still not got my first – even though I had thought about it a lot. I think I was 22 when I finally did it, I was living in Oxford at the time doing a masters in publishing. After waiting so long, my first tattoo wasn’t even that good. It’s a skipping Alice in Wonderland on my lower back that now looks like a weird blurry mess. I intend to get it covered eventually, as I want a full back piece.

I waited a couple of years to get my next one, as I wanted to make sure I found the right artist. It was actually discovering the work of tattoo artist Claudia de Sabe that made me realise I wanted to be heavily tattooed, I had never seen tattoos like that before. I would consider myself a serious collector now. I have a list of people I want to get tattooed by.

(tattoos by Cris Cleen)

Do you have a favourite tattoo? Is there a story behind it?
It’s too hard to pick a favourite, I love them all for very different reasons. I got tattooed quite a lot last year, including a pre-Raphaelite inspired leg piece by Tracy D. I also treated myself to two tattoos while I was in New York celebrating my 30^th birthday. They’re by Cris Cleen at Saved, I have admired his work for years – his colour palette is divine.

What was your inspiration to create Things & Ink?
I have wanted to launch a female-friendly tattoo magazine for years (I even created one as a uni project), as I was disillusioned not only with tattoo magazines – I never thought they really related to me – but with women’s magazines, too. I was sick of airbrushed covers and features about the latest diet, I wanted something that was relevant to my world – and I realised lots of other people felt the same. I actually drunk tweeted one night, saying I was going to launch a tattoo magazine for girls and so many people responded saying they wanted to write or help in some way. That was it, Things&Ink was born – or the idea anyway, it actually took around 8 months to put the first issue together!

Is there a certain message you hope to get across with each issue?
I want to explore the whole world that surrounds tattoos including its rich history, and speak not only to the artists, but the people who get tattooed, too. Tell their stories and illustrate them with beautiful photo shoots. I want to show that there’s a huge variety of people who choose to get tattooed, and that we’re not all ‘alternative’ or fit into certain categories. Ultimately, I want Things&Ink to be a luxurious read that will provide inspiration, not just for tattoos, but for fashion, beauty and life in general.

(tattoo by Steve Vinall)

How has it been received?
The response to Things&Ink has been incredible, I have been overwhelmed by positivity. Lots of people have said that the magazine relates to them, regardless of their sex, age or where they are from. The covers have also gone down very well, we have aimed to do something different with each one so that it relates to the magazine’s content. The first issue, we recreated a historical photo of tattooed lady Artoria Gibbons with tattooist Claudia de Sabe.

(tattoo by Tracy D)

What can we look forward to in the Celebration Issue?
All the usual interviews, including with our beautiful cover stars Amy Savage and Tiny Miss Becca, there’s also features on Vicky Morgan and Joao Bosco. There’s history, culture and some incredible fashion and beauty photo shoots. Oh and also a women who has a Christmas sleeve. So lots of festive treats.

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Things&Ink – it’s by far my favourite tattoo magazine. Thank you so much, Alice, for being our first Tattoo Talk interview of 2014! I absolutely loved devouring my copy of the Celebration Issue and I can’t wait to see what you and your team come up with next.

To see more from Alice and everyone at Things & Ink, be sure to like their Facebook page, and follow along on Instagram and Twitter.

Any big tattoos plans for 2014? I’d love to hear!