2024-03-15 23:10:42
There are many neighborhoods in Tel Aviv, but none are as charged as Florentine – the dirty one in the south of the city, the neighborhood that is always in business and always a little bit between, the place we love to death and can’t stand more than ten minutes in it. And among all the magic and the dripping air conditioner, there are also small businesses, most of them independent, that provide more and less important services to the residents of the neighborhood. These are their stories, and their people.
More Florentine businesses:
>> The place where books and flight memories are bound
>> the place where the sweet beats duncan donuts too
>> The place where you host on the green. And also on the flowers of honey
tattooism
Address: Rabbi Yitzhak Yedidia Frankel 37
Who did we talk to? Daniel Graham, I have been a tattooer for 15 years, the owner of Florentine Tattooism.
Since when has the business existed? 11 and a half years, something like that.
What is special about this studio?
We are the oldest and first tattoo studio in Florentine and yes, this is the place, in fact it has been around for more than a decade.
We were here before. tattooism Photography: Liron Rodik
And why exactly in Florentine?
Florentine once had a completely different character. Florentine was a southern neighborhood, a bit neglected I would say, but on the other hand it was also an artistic bohemia, full of graffiti, street parties, there was a vibrant and young life here. It’s not that there aren’t any now, it’s just that the character has changed a bit. It used to be the center of Tel Aviv’s underground alternative, so it went hand in hand with the world of tattoos and customers. Plus the rents were different, because Florentine was a bit neglected, so the rent prices were friendlier than in the north of the city.
More Florentine businesses:
>> The place where the pets and dogs feel at home
>> The place where the name may be generic, but the merchandise is everything
How do you see the change in the field?
Listen, not far from here I know they established a school and kindergartens a hundred meters from here and the character has become much more family-like. There used to be single young people here, and now you see young couples or parents with their first child living here, and this is a demographic change that I would say is natural. People live here every day because they have built infrastructure that makes it possible to start a family here. Once upon a time, for that matter, even walking around here at night was a bit dubious, I’m talking to you about a time not so far away, six or seven years ago. You know, there were strange people here at night. now significantly less.
How does it affect the business?
Now it’s starting to feel really safe here, something that wasn’t here before. It’s something I’ve come to love in this neighborhood. Let’s say I have a business here and I feel safe about it, not afraid of hacking and things like that.
Do you feel that the development of the population here also affected the audience of the business?
You can say yes and no. The invited are invited, they will go wherever they need to go. Yes, there is a certain street movement that more describes the character of the street. There are small tattoos that people request that we used to accept only by appointment. I can’t say that it’s something too fundamental for the nature of our business, but if you look at the coffee shops nearby I’m pretty sure that from the point of view of their customers it’s quite significant, to me specifically less so.
In terms of the design of the place, I also see that it is really invested. It is also bigger than it looks from the outside. Was it important when you started the business?
Listen, from the beginning, the whole matter of design and tattoos is our essence, so we try that every item here will be an artistic item or designed by us and special. Here on the walls you can see pictures of the human anatomy, inspirations from the East and Japan, inspirations from street art and graffiti, the world of tattoos, a samurai mask, a Tibetan blessing, many inspirations. We try to surround ourselves with inspirations, each artist of course and what inspires him.
The impressive design is already part of the neighborhood. tattooism Photography: Liron Rodik
What do you like about Florentine?
It might take me a minute. That everyone knows everyone. Everyone knows their neighbor. Most of the business owners who are here like me, five to ten years… so you know there is communication between business owners.
What’s the weirdest tattoo you’ve gotten?
Part of the development of any tattoo artist is to make strange tattoos. There’s nothing I’d tell about… oh, you know what a weird tattoo is? I tattooed Uri Geller. Wait, listen-listen-listen, I tattooed Uri Geller and tattooed him… guess what?
A bending spoon?
I tattooed him a bending spoon! He did it on the arm and when he folds the hand it bends.
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