Issue #117: 2004
FROM THE MEAN STREETS TO THE SWEET INK
How Tattoos Saved Robert Pho’s Life
Robert Pho sums up his career with four simple words: “Tattooing saved my life.” Growing up in Los Angeles County, he learned street smarts at an early age and eventually found himself deep inside the gang culture. Early in 1989, Robert was charged and convicted of gang related offenses and faced fourteen years in the California prison system. While incarcerated, he taught himself the mechanics of tattooing, using the most basic tools of the trade, a guitar string and a motor from a portable radio. Combined with an innate artistic talent nurtured since the age of five, his skill would soon become the primary reason for his survival.
After seven years of incarceration, with a skill developed underground, behind bars, Robert would be released with the only trade that eventually became his ticket out of a violent and uncertain future. Today with six years of shop experience, Robert operates. two tattoo shops on the other side. of the country in High Point, North Carolina. His reputation for finely detailed skin art has spread not only across the United States, but also to clients as far away as El Salvador and Russia. Those carrying Robert Pho skin designs range from tattoo enthusiasts to first-timers, like the surgeon who came calling recently for a tribal lizard tattoo. At age 32, with a wife and a growing family, Robert is ready to start giving back to the profession that admittedly changed his life. He is now in a position to help new young artists hone their skills and jump start their own careers, with plans to expand his own operations in the near future.