Below the bustling street of Thabo Sehume in central Pretoria an unlikely den of inked entrepreneurs plans to change perceptions and develop better tattooing practices for Africans.

Ziggy Avenstrup‚ a South African-born Irishman who runs Downtown Tattoos‚ and Lidson Bassopp‚ a Botswana national‚ are fusing their experience of tattooing on black and white skin in an effort to provide professional artwork to those documenting their lives on their sleeves. As the first tattoo shop in Pretoria central they mostly ink African clients.

Bassopp who has mostly tattooed on black skin said he often does cover-ups of “prison tattoos” or relics done with home-made machines.

“People around here mostly get tattoos in jail‚ then after a couple of years they want to fix it or cover it up‚” One of his clients is reworking a barbed wire tattoo originally done with a single needle.

“I found in the black community a lot of damaged skin‚” said Avenstrup. “Tattoo artists don’t know how to tattoo black people‚ that’s the problem. I wanted to change that.”

Gesturing to Bassopp’s sleeve he explains that tattoos done too deeply cause damage and leave raised scar tissue. Modern day tattoo machines pierce the dermis at a consistent depth‚ reducing the chance of a blow-out. This is when the ink penetrates too deeply and bleeds out‚ blurring lines.

Tattooing colour on black skin is possible‚ but lighter tones like yellow and pink will not show against a darker pigment. The quality of tattoo ink is getting better and better under the scrutiny of bio-chemists and toxicologists who are helping to develop the brighter‚ safer and everlasting ink.

The artists said the black community ask frequently for flying stars‚ the African continent‚ bible verses‚ ID numbers‚ names and portraits of family members.

“Those people that want to get tattoos usually relate to ones that are going to stand for their family‚ or something that has happened in the past‚” said Bassopp.

William Mabua from Mabopane who came in for a bionic clock on his forearm said that his tattoo had “flavour”.

 “I got it because when I go home and walk in the streets I will be the only one with this tattoo‚ I don’t want something that I might see on someone else.”

Avenstrup said that he initially struggled to tattoo African skin‚ as he could not see the needle penetrating into the dermis. He had to put in lines twice sometimes but now thinks that tattooing white skin is boring in comparison.

“You really have to concentrate hard when tattooing a black person‚” he said.

A specialist in Samoan Tribal artwork‚ Bassopp said that he is keen to develop a tribal design for an African market.

After being recently told he must be possessed by demons‚ Avenstrup said that he wants to change that perception too. “I am trying to change that to say we are not bad people‚ all we want to do is achieve something. We want to make Africa beautiful. We want to colour in Africa.”