People get tattoos for all kinds of reasons: to memorialize loved ones, to achieve a certain aesthetic.<\/p>\n
Then there are masochists who seek out the Brutal Black Project. Per Vice, those body-art diehards look to surrender control of the process, get tatted with dense blocks of black ink and see how much needle-driven pain they can endure.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want a brutal-looking tattoo, there is only one way to get it: brutally,\u201d Cammy Stewart, one of three Brutal Black Project tattooists, tells Vice. \u201cIf you want to look brutal, you have to go through the process.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tattoo collective\u2019s signature look is extreme, dark and invariably on your face. The process, which is done free of charge for those who can take it, is accented by screams of pain, splashes of tattoo ink and blood all over the place. Sessions can last for up to four excruciating hours.<\/p>\n
But Stewart insists that he and his collaborators are not completely sadistic. \u201cIf they\u2019re pleading, you stop,\u201d he tells Vice. \u201cIt\u2019s not forced upon them.\u201d<\/p>\n
That said, this is more about the experience of enduring pain than it is about walking out with a pretty rose. As Stewart puts it, \u201cThis is a big \u2018f\u200a-\u200a-\u200ak you\u2019 to what most people believe tattooing to be. The marks left by the tattoo are only a reminder of what you learned about yourself during<\/p>\n
the process.\u201d<\/p>\n