Tatoos

it could just be decorational, having no translation or meaning. I'm not fluent in any Asian languages, though it definately doesn't resemble Chinese or Japanese.

It actually looks arabic or indian - the top charachter looks a bit like an om

it's not Arabic, I've got a friend who jots stuff down in Arabic all the time...looks nothing the same. Now as for Indian, I'd have to ask my old boss, he was from Pakistan but traveled to India a lot.

The worse thing is, i can read this and i'll bet she doesnt know what it means!, nice clean colours, fresh feel, well done

So what does it mean?

"One order Vindaloo, extra peppers. Two samosas..." I can't see the rest.

 

Actually, I have no idea. Nice shot, though! I like the mix of colors.

It looks like an ancient language (pali) used by an ancient Indian king Ashoka who became a disciple of Buddha after a whole bunch of bloody wars...Its during this time that a lot of scholars from China came to India to study in the then famous Nalanda University...

 

My father had a stone which a buddist monk (near Tibet) gave him along with a painted picture of Buddha (in nautral colors ...which I still cherish) in the early 50's .The carvings in the stone that looks like the text on her back...These were carvings made by the kings 'religious' workers to promote Buddhism...

 

Tibetians use this language to date and you'll find this all over their temples and in their text...so my guess is the lady hails from Tibet...

It´s definitely tibetan, come to see my tibet pics and you will find it...

 

(nice invitation, no?)

 

Oliver

 

P.S.: very nice pic, going to get a high rating now...

I think this about sums up my impression of the picture: It's picture of a guy and a girl on a beach. Yet it sparked quite an intellectual conversation. This captures something real, and instead of focusing on on the curve of buttocks, or texture of the sea, we're focusing on interpreting the message this woman tattooed on her back. Beauty stamped with the life and personality of an individual. Very effective, in my opinion.

Sorry, but I must confess, the buttocks did catch my attention, somewhat... Afterall, if life was limited to intellectual talk... This foto would not have been taken... I'm assuming the yellow suit, the red hair and skin tone had to catch your eye before the text came into view... Solely the comments of a purist... Happy foto taking...

I just came across another shot taken at the time. I met them on a beach near Athens but there was a complete language failure - I had to ask if it was OK to take a photo by sign language. She seemed rather more enthusiastic than him: maybe because his tattoo wasn't finished!

Any experts in eastern languages out there?

 

I posted this shot some time ago and was interested to know what the

characters on her back mean. Some people thought they are from Tibet

and others have said they are archaic Chinese but nobody has yet been

able to translate them. I recently found another version of the shot

which I added (below).

 

All ideas would be interesting, + comments / crits of the photo of course.