Martial photos of New Zealand's largest gang
June 5, 2015 12:28 AM Subscribe
New Zealand has more gang members per capita than any other country. But the largest is the Mongrel Mob. More than 1 in 10 prisoners is a member.
Of course putting photographs of an accused murderer in a gallery attracts controversy. The Artist Jono Rotman responds that "The accusation of glorification comes from the fact that they're good photographs. And that brings into question why that should be glorifying these guys. Should these guys only ever be shown in bad photographs or police mugshots?"
Of course putting photographs of an accused murderer in a gallery attracts controversy. The Artist Jono Rotman responds that "The accusation of glorification comes from the fact that they're good photographs. And that brings into question why that should be glorifying these guys. Should these guys only ever be shown in bad photographs or police mugshots?"
This seems as good a place to ask if any Australians or New Zealanders can confirm a bit of antipodean prison culture: in the US, a teardrop prison tattoo indicates the bearer is serving time for murder, but I have read that in AUS/NZ, it is forcibly applied by other inmates to denote pedophiles. Is this true? If so, it would dramatically alter the prison experience for an American recidivist locked up elsewhere.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:48 AM on June 5, 2015
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:48 AM on June 5, 2015
They are good photographs. Fascinating. Eyeballing a photograph is about the only way you could really take a good look at people like this.
posted by three blind mice at 1:58 AM on June 5, 2015
posted by three blind mice at 1:58 AM on June 5, 2015
(Richochet biscuit, I can honestly say that of the Aussies and Kiwis I have known with teardrop tattoos, they were not forcibly applied. I think most of the ones I've known got them in prison, but it had nothing to do with paedophilia. More to do with attempting to look like a bad-arse criminal in the hope of scaring off genuine bad-arse criminals.)
posted by malibustacey9999 at 2:10 AM on June 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by malibustacey9999 at 2:10 AM on June 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Amazing shots, but I'm conflicted about some of the facial tatts. Combining traditional moko with 'MOBSTER' across your forehead or spiderwebs on your throat seems a tad... I don't know... disrespectful to your heritage? It's one of those things I'm going to have to ponder for a while before I decide how I feel about it.
Googling took me to this site which I found interesting. I know a couple of ordinary Volvo-driving soccer mums who have their chins tattooed in homage to their Maori roots, but I had no idea of the depth of meaning behind it.
Fascinating post, aychedee, I love any post which makes me ponder. Thanks.
posted by malibustacey9999 at 2:37 AM on June 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Googling took me to this site which I found interesting. I know a couple of ordinary Volvo-driving soccer mums who have their chins tattooed in homage to their Maori roots, but I had no idea of the depth of meaning behind it.
Fascinating post, aychedee, I love any post which makes me ponder. Thanks.
posted by malibustacey9999 at 2:37 AM on June 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
The photographs are very good. Weirdly enough, they remind me of the portraiture of 19th century Native Americans. It is the seriousness of the gaze, the surety of one's internal space and yes, the pride.
posted by jadepearl at 3:01 AM on June 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by jadepearl at 3:01 AM on June 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
"The patches usually feature a swastika and a British Bulldog wearing a German Stahlhelm, which supposedly is an image intended to offend as it is a British Bulldog wearing the helmet."
Intended to offend... like... beyond just being Nazi iconography? I don't get the swastika and SS symbols and everything else.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 3:44 AM on June 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Intended to offend... like... beyond just being Nazi iconography? I don't get the swastika and SS symbols and everything else.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 3:44 AM on June 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
It's an odd thing, the Nazi iconography. The Sex Pistols and associated entourage members did it in London in the mid-1970s, too, when there were still plenty of people who had fought in and/or lived through WWII around. Presumably it's a combination of the stark iconography and the shock value.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 4:07 AM on June 5, 2015
posted by GallonOfAlan at 4:07 AM on June 5, 2015
If I remember correctly, in the US each teardrop tattoo represents a fallen fellow gang member who was a good friend.
posted by King Sky Prawn at 4:35 AM on June 5, 2015
posted by King Sky Prawn at 4:35 AM on June 5, 2015
jadepearl: You could also compare Charles Goldie's portraits.
posted by aychedee at 4:36 AM on June 5, 2015
posted by aychedee at 4:36 AM on June 5, 2015
I love the portraits.
One guy I met in New Zealand with the full-facial gang tattooing told me that when he was first sent to lockup at 14 the youth prison was entirely divided by gangs, and choosing a side happened on the first day; Mongrel Mob, White Power, or Black Power were the main choices, if I am recalling correctly, with smaller gangs affiliated to those. The tattooing followed, partly from time inside and partly continued on the outside, but all based on an identity formed on that first day in lockup.
It's a powerful statement, but not one you can ever walk away from even if later you have second thoughts.
posted by Dip Flash at 4:37 AM on June 5, 2015
One guy I met in New Zealand with the full-facial gang tattooing told me that when he was first sent to lockup at 14 the youth prison was entirely divided by gangs, and choosing a side happened on the first day; Mongrel Mob, White Power, or Black Power were the main choices, if I am recalling correctly, with smaller gangs affiliated to those. The tattooing followed, partly from time inside and partly continued on the outside, but all based on an identity formed on that first day in lockup.
It's a powerful statement, but not one you can ever walk away from even if later you have second thoughts.
posted by Dip Flash at 4:37 AM on June 5, 2015
"a swastika... which supposedly is an image intended to offend...."
The same is true in Soviet/Russian criminal tattoos, if I understand it correctly. The Nazi symbols aren't meant to denote affiliation, they're chosen because they're low hanging fruit in the corpus of offensive images.
posted by mr. digits at 4:38 AM on June 5, 2015
The same is true in Soviet/Russian criminal tattoos, if I understand it correctly. The Nazi symbols aren't meant to denote affiliation, they're chosen because they're low hanging fruit in the corpus of offensive images.
posted by mr. digits at 4:38 AM on June 5, 2015
When you consider that biker gang culture really took off in America after WWII with a lot of veterans taking to the road, I'm speculating that some of them adopted a stalhelm that they may have actually brought back with them from the European front as something that was as deliberately offensive as possible and would set themselves apart from other veterans and society in general, and that it spread.
posted by Halloween Jack at 4:48 AM on June 5, 2015
posted by Halloween Jack at 4:48 AM on June 5, 2015
The same is true in Soviet/Russian criminal tattoos, if I understand it correctly. The Nazi symbols aren't meant to denote affiliation, they're chosen because they're low hanging fruit in the corpus of offensive images.
And in Germany where Nazi imagery is outlawed they have adopted the low hanging fruit of the confederacy for being offensive.
posted by srboisvert at 5:41 AM on June 5, 2015
And in Germany where Nazi imagery is outlawed they have adopted the low hanging fruit of the confederacy for being offensive.
posted by srboisvert at 5:41 AM on June 5, 2015
For some background on gangs in NZ, dig deep here
posted by lalochezia at 5:44 AM on June 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by lalochezia at 5:44 AM on June 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
It's an odd thing, the Nazi iconography.
An uncle who was in the Canadian infantry was answering some question I was bugging him with as a child, "Nazis? We didn't know about nazis. We were there to kill Krauts and Eye-ties!"
posted by bonobothegreat at 6:56 AM on June 5, 2015
An uncle who was in the Canadian infantry was answering some question I was bugging him with as a child, "Nazis? We didn't know about nazis. We were there to kill Krauts and Eye-ties!"
posted by bonobothegreat at 6:56 AM on June 5, 2015
And in Germany where Nazi imagery is outlawed they have adopted the low hanging fruit of the confederacy for being offensive.
srboisvert
That's really interesting. Do you have any links to images? The idea of German neo-Nazis or gangsters walking around with Confederate flags tattooed on them is bizarre.
posted by Sangermaine at 8:29 AM on June 5, 2015
srboisvert
That's really interesting. Do you have any links to images? The idea of German neo-Nazis or gangsters walking around with Confederate flags tattooed on them is bizarre.
posted by Sangermaine at 8:29 AM on June 5, 2015
"The patches usually feature a swastika and a British Bulldog wearing a German Stahlhelm, which supposedly is an image intended to offend as it is a British Bulldog wearing the helmet."
Intended to offend... like... beyond just being Nazi iconography? I don't get the swastika and SS symbols and everything else.
White people in NZ are mainly ethnic Britons. Do the math.
The Sex Pistols and associated entourage members did it in London in the mid-1970s, too, when there were still plenty of people who had fought in and/or lived through WWII around. Presumably it's a combination of the stark iconography and the shock value.
In their case, I'm pretty sure it was Malcolm McLaren cynically cashing in on the younger generation's mindless rebellion against their parents by adopting the symbols of their mortal enemies.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:34 AM on June 5, 2015
Intended to offend... like... beyond just being Nazi iconography? I don't get the swastika and SS symbols and everything else.
White people in NZ are mainly ethnic Britons. Do the math.
The Sex Pistols and associated entourage members did it in London in the mid-1970s, too, when there were still plenty of people who had fought in and/or lived through WWII around. Presumably it's a combination of the stark iconography and the shock value.
In their case, I'm pretty sure it was Malcolm McLaren cynically cashing in on the younger generation's mindless rebellion against their parents by adopting the symbols of their mortal enemies.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:34 AM on June 5, 2015
IIRC the teardrop is about having had a > 10 year sentence.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:27 PM on June 5, 2015
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:27 PM on June 5, 2015
It's one tattooed tear for every year he's been away.
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:01 PM on June 5, 2015
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:01 PM on June 5, 2015
It's actually a code indicating coffee preference. 1 teardrop = espresso, 1 filled, one outlined = macchiato, one outlined only = latte, and so on in that fashion.
posted by selfish at 8:30 PM on June 7, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by selfish at 8:30 PM on June 7, 2015 [1 favorite]
That's really interesting. Do you have any links to images? The idea of German neo-Nazis or gangsters walking around with Confederate flags tattooed on them is bizarre.
Sangermaine
I'm not sure exactly srboisvert meant, but in my experience it's less tattoos and more decals and clothes, but then again I don't know any actual german criminals or anything. I do know that on my first day in Munich I saw a lift-kitted Ford F-150 with mudding tires and a big-ass confederate flag in the back window, with a bunch of other variously offensive stuff around it. I was even more astonished when I was told that, in Germany, a ford truck is actually a pretty expensive status symbol, and about the price of a BMW or nicer Volkswagon in the US.
But yeah, that is definitely a thing.
posted by neonrev at 8:49 PM on June 7, 2015
Sangermaine
I'm not sure exactly srboisvert meant, but in my experience it's less tattoos and more decals and clothes, but then again I don't know any actual german criminals or anything. I do know that on my first day in Munich I saw a lift-kitted Ford F-150 with mudding tires and a big-ass confederate flag in the back window, with a bunch of other variously offensive stuff around it. I was even more astonished when I was told that, in Germany, a ford truck is actually a pretty expensive status symbol, and about the price of a BMW or nicer Volkswagon in the US.
But yeah, that is definitely a thing.
posted by neonrev at 8:49 PM on June 7, 2015
I went and saw this today at the City Gallery in Wellington. It made me feel sad more than anything else.
There was a booklet about the exhibition also available as a PDF on their website. It includes a couple more of the images not shown in the VICE article.
posted by Start with Dessert at 10:18 PM on June 7, 2015
There was a booklet about the exhibition also available as a PDF on their website. It includes a couple more of the images not shown in the VICE article.
posted by Start with Dessert at 10:18 PM on June 7, 2015
@MalibuStacey: Combining traditional moko with 'MOBSTER' across your forehead or spiderwebs on your throat seems a tad... I don't know... disrespectful to your heritage?
Way late, but - you probably noticed from the link you yourself posted, that that area of your forehead represents your position in life (sort of, occupation), so, in a way, it is the most culturally appropriate place to put something like 'Mobster'....
posted by Elysum at 1:11 PM on June 12, 2015
Way late, but - you probably noticed from the link you yourself posted, that that area of your forehead represents your position in life (sort of, occupation), so, in a way, it is the most culturally appropriate place to put something like 'Mobster'....
posted by Elysum at 1:11 PM on June 12, 2015
These guys often have or had a very conflicted, tenuous connection to their heritage. One of the underlying reasons gangs like MM came into existence was the disruption urbanisation caused to traditional culture, overlayed on a thick base of racism, government policies of assimiliation into Pakeha (Anglo) culture, and the alienation of land. Taking a traditional tattoo (one that once would have been the preserve of high ranking men, granted by consent of elders) and munging MOBSTER into it is kind of defying AND acknowledging both cultures, all at once.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:37 PM on June 12, 2015
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:37 PM on June 12, 2015
« Older This is the power of an informed public. | Some of the faux companies even hold strikes Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by aychedee at 12:33 AM on June 5, 2015