Blue Blood was created largely as an artistic outlet for a type of work which had no venue. Many enthusiastic scenesters cut their photographic teeth with Blue Blood, yet the Blue Blood photographers collectively have more coffee table books to their credit than just about any other site on the net. Most of Blue Blood's photographic artists come either from the club scene, the fandom convention circuit, or the art world. Although many are talented enough to have been published in more mainstream adult and fashion publications ranging from Hustler's Taboo to Japanese Vogue, that is not where they come from in the most heartfelt sense.

Given the art and counterculture bent of Blue Blood, it is no surprise that the growing body modification community embraced Blue Blood like they did. Forrest Black and I also shot for just about every issue of Tattoo Savage from 1997 until they lost their brilliant editor Linda Fletcher, decided to excise pentagrams and breasts from their pages, and went bankrupt. To me, the exciting thing about skin art is that it is on skin. This might sound like a truism, but I feel the interesting part is how an individual chooses to adorn him or herself. The

interesting part is that the work is on a person. If some pornstar picks a piece of flash off the wall so she can have a "whore brand" on her lower back, that is utterly boring. If a creative person plans out a complex larger original piece which expresses his or individuality, that fits in with the Blue Blood philosophy. If a sentimental person gets a small hidden piece to remind him or herself of something personally meaningful, that fits in with the Blue Blood philosophy.

Inking your flesh or getting a new chest or piercing or other modification to fit in is tragic, but being able to use technology to make yourself what you want to be is really highly evolved and exciting to me in a sort of cyberpunk way.

I think art is partly about expression and partly about communication. Art doesn't have to be beautiful to be art, but I personally value focusing on the beautiful side of my world over the harsh side. It is easier to make someone cry than to make them smile and I've always enjoyed a healthy challenge.
--Amelia G, Los Angeles