Shara Rose, a tattooist from Texas has a parlor in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region. She learned the skill from a Lithuanian teacher in the United Kingdom. Now she tattoos a mix of male and female clients in Kurdistan.
The most common question she is asked is about pain. “There is no rule. Some people endure the pain very well. Others need several sessions to complete the tattoo. I am very patient. I understand that for some people the tattoo can be really painful, so I give them more time.”
Shara says she gives her clients time to think about what they want before she leaves the permanent mark on their skin. “I always convince my clients that they have to be sure about the pattern. They should draw the tattoo on the skin and look at it every day. If they like it they can do the permanent tattoo.”
“This moment is the hardest for me. The pattern has to be printed perfectly,”
Most of her customers are men but more and more women are coming to her tattoo parlor too to adorn their bodies with patterns from a rich selectin. “People who visit my salon are foreigners and local, young and old, woman and man.” Some of her Christian women customers prefer rosary and the cross tattooed on their body.
Muslims too are among her customers. They don’t have a problem with the word haram surrounding the issue. “The main problem is that people don't know what they want. They ask me what I can tattoo for them! I send the undecided ones home.”
