NZ Visual Diary - entry 456

tattoo shop on Lorne Street

I enjoy opportunities to walk leisurely and closely examine store fronts. And, for the most part, they are store fronts and not display windows. The latter suggests intention, if not also artful pretence, that I find rare in the commercial districts of Auckland’s central city and its neighbouring suburbs.

The frontage of the retail shops that populate the thoroughfares I walk on a regular basis are for the most part austere, some would say threadbare and utilitarian. The shop owners, often first or second generation immigrants, find the daily struggles of keeping their businesses fully stocked and interiors ordered sufficiently demanding tasks. Concerns for the aesthetics of store-front windows are secondary, given the demands of securing goods and maintaining shelf stock, even superfluous if the business is already well known and customer traffic is brisk.

The store front in today’s entry is a visual presentation in two parts. There is first the window itself, an unassuming indeed chaotic mural of what has been or could be the start a tattoo design - the past, next or first ink-and-needle to skin. Smaller placards, either mounted on interior walls or held upright in easels, line the shop’s interior ledges and floor.

The image also presents a second showcase: an unobstructed and welcoming view, set in deep recess, of the shop’s interior of highly polished floor, of gleaming chest against gauzy curtain and of leg and foot — awaiting customers suggesting the parlour is popular and held in some regard.

I believe the photograph is a handsome black & white image and an entertaining story.