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Leu Family.
Family's Iron.
Photographs by Fabio Paleari.
Trolley, London, 2002.
192 pp.,
120 color and duotone illustrations,
8¼x10".
Publisher's Description
THE LEU FAMILY
FAMILY'S IRON
Fabio Paleari
Design by Fruitmachine
10x8-1/4 inches
192 pages
120 colour and duotone photographs
hardcover
In 1976 Felix Leu, a Swiss-born
traveller, was accosted by a
passer-by in Yugoslavia as the
artist responsible for the tattoos
of a travelling companion.
He was not, but somehow then
determined to learn the skills
of the tattooist. With advice,
he found and served his
apprenticeship at Jock's Tattoo
Shop, in King's Cross, London.
For almost 30 years Felix and his
family travelled the world,
learning their crafts and art.
There are now three generations
of the Leu family practising at
their famous studios in
Lausanne. In addition to
Japanese and Indian styles, they
are also linguists of the African
traditions, having worked
alongside Berber tribesmen,
along with Indonesian,
Polynesian and North American
Indian masters.
But perhaps what they are most
known for is their own
personalised style, described by
afficionados as 'soft and
psychedelic'. Filip, Felix's son,
became specialised in large
pieces, body-suits even. Clients,
over several years, offer up their
bodies, their hands, their faces
and even genitals for decoration.
The photographer Fabio Paleari
has documented the studio and
the designs of the Leu's work
in Lausanne and beyond.
The results are phenomenal;
no-one with skin can expect
to be unaffected by his
photographs, nor anyone who
has admired the work of the
tattooist, from Polynesia to
King's Cross.
Estee Lauder it is not.
It is the miraculous and sublime.
Fabio Paleari was born in Milan in
1963. After finishing his studies
in photography at UCLA, Paleari
divided his time between
advertising photography - for,
among others, Vogue and
Saatchi & Saatchi - and
photographing his travels in Latin
America, Australia and Morocco.
Paleari is also a film-maker,
collaborating with Italian
television on a documentary
about Allen Ginsberg and
another about the Leu family. He
is the author of La mia
incapacity di stare al mondo and
La Goccia.
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