Tattooing has long ceased to be a mark of marginality and has become a full-fledged object of academic study. In Estonia, this issue is being addressed by Oskar Poll, a master with ten years of experience, who is simultaneously conducting scientific research on the history of local tattoo culture. His observations show how, over several decades, not only the set of motifs has changed, but also the very social context in which people decide to get a tattoo.
From Graphic Design to Scientific Work
Poll himself clarifies his experience with a smile: “A full eight years, and the first two were a trial period.” He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in graphic arts from the Estonian Academy of Arts, and it was there that he began photographing Soviet tattoos, encountering people on the street. This project grew into a master’s thesis, and now Poll is working on his doctorate. According to him, approaching strangers with a request to photograph their tattoos sometimes felt like stalking: he would notice a person from afar, follow them, explain his purpose, and ask when, where, and why the tattoo was done. Over time, he developed a skill – he could guess the design based on the type of person.
Soviet Motifs: Anchors, Seagulls, and Women
In his master’s thesis, Poll analyzed which tattoos were popular in the Soviet era and what they meant. Maritime imagery dominated – anchors, ships, seagulls, as well as female portraits. The researcher emphasizes that women have always been the main source of inspiration in tattooing. In the West, tattooing remained a male domain for a long time due to its association with male subcultures, and men would get images of women tattooed on their bodies.
A typical set of Soviet tattoos looked something like this:
- maritime themes – anchors, ships, seagulls, waves;
- female portraits and images;
- skulls, roses, cats;
- military symbolism.
Doctoral Work: How Tattoos Came to Estonia in the 1990s
For his doctoral dissertation, Poll moved on to the transitional period – the 1990s, when the first professional tattoo artists and studios appeared in Estonia. He is studying where the machines and equipment came from, where the very idea of becoming a tattoo artist came from, as such a profession simply did not exist before. According to Poll, the history of tattooing in Estonia had not been studied systematically before, and this is both interesting and frightening: every statement will either be accepted as truth or challenged.
Comparing Eras: What Has Changed
The main difference between modern tattoos and Soviet ones is the colossal range of choices. Previously, there was a limited set of ready-made images, but now the sources of motifs are practically limitless, largely thanks to the internet. The tools also differ: today, machines are used, whereas in Soviet times, homemade machines were used in prisons, and before that – ordinary needles and ink. Furthermore, tattooing has become massively popular among women, whereas before it was more of an exception.
| Parameter | Soviet Era | Modern Times |
|---|---|---|
| Motifs | limited set: anchors, roses, cats, skulls | wide spectrum, including digital sources |
| Tools | needle with ink, homemade machines | professional machines |
| Audience | predominantly men | evenly men and women |
| Profession | did not exist as such | established studios and artists |
Poll’s expert view on the material shows an important shift: tattooing has transformed from a closed subcultural practice into an open visual environment where history is read in layers. Soviet designs are a document of an era where choices were narrow, and meanings were fixed by the tradition of sailors, soldiers, and prisoners. Modern practice, on the contrary, reflects individualization: a person assembles a design from a global visual pool. For tattoo culture as a whole, this means that local research like Poll’s work becomes key to understanding how global trends take root in specific national contexts and which ones remain in collective memory.