Thousands of tattoo enthusiasts have descended on London this weekend for one of the world’s largest conventions for lovers of body art and modifications.
The three day event held at the Tobacco Dock in east London sees tattoo fans from across the world gather to show off their impressive body art work and even get some new work done.
The International London Tattoo Convention hosts more than 400 of the world’s most renowned artists from counties such as South Korea, Germany and Spain as part of the spectacle.
Some of the visitors to the event can be seen covered head-to-toe in intricate tattoos and others have a range of modifications – including one man with a split tongue.
Tattoos, for many of the people snapped at the 14th edition of the event, are more than just a hobby and have become part of their lifestyle with them dedicating many hours to creating the perfect design.
During the weekend a competition is also ran offering visitors a chance to see the best tattoos created over the convention weekend. This year it will be judged by world famous experts Filip Leu, Mark Mahoney, Luke Atkinson and Tin Tin.
Categories include Best Black and Grey, Best Ornamental and Best Backpiece with the results announced at the close of each day.
Enthusiast Shelly d’Inferno poses at the London International Tattoo Convention, showing off her multiple piercings, tats and body modifications
Gloria Jiang (left) and Nadine Dohr (right) display their impressive and colourful back tattoos to visitors at the popular event
Becky Whiley shows the tattoos on her hands, arms, neck and face to the camera. Many of the people at the convention are covered-head-to-toe in a variety of designs
Melanie Ezechiele, who told the Star she works in a Tattoo studio and does piercings for a living, has both black and colored ink tattoos. On her right hand is a silicone implant in the shape of a sea shell
A man (left) shows his tongue split at the convention. The modification involves cutting the tongue centrally from its tip to as far back as the underside base, and forking the end. Also pictured is a woman getting her chest tattooed at the show
Rafel Delelande, who is an artist based in London at Seven Doors Studio, has hundreds of tattoos covring his body
Enthusiast Rafel Delelande’s body art included smaller pieces on his hands and large blocks of dark ink over his shoulders
A vast array of body modifications such a facial piercings and extreme eyeball tattoos were also spotted around the event
Patrick (left) told the Daily Star he had travelled from Minnesota, US, to get a full body tattoo finished this weekend at the London event. He said his ‘masterpiece’ took a pain-staking 280 hours to finish
Tattoo artist Sakyo (right) and Wang Ching-Tun, both of Diao Zuo tattoo, show their body art and high level of skill