Ami James ( he, עמי ג'יימס; born 6 April 1972) is an

Israeli-American , native_name_lang = , image = , caption = , population = 110,000–150,000 , popplace = New York metropolitan area, Los Angeles metropolitan area, Miami metropolitan area, and other large metropolitan are ...

tattoo artist A tattoo artist (also tattooer or tattooist) is an individual who applies permanent decorative tattoos, often in an established business called a "tattoo shop", "tattoo studio" or "tattoo parlour". Tattoo artists usually learn their craft via an ...

, television personality and entrepreneur.

Early life

James was born in the Egyptian city of

Sharm El Sheikh Sharm El Sheikh ( ar, شرم الشيخ, ), commonly abbreviated to Sharm, is an Egyptian city on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, on the coastal strip along the Red Sea. Its population is approximately 53,670 ...

(then

occupied ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October ...

by Israel). His American-born father

converted to Judaism Conversion to Judaism ( he, גיור, ''giyur'') is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. It thus resembles both conversion to other religions and naturalization. " ...

three years prior to moving to Israel. Once residing in Israel, his father joined the Israeli army and met James' mother, who had emigrated from Romania. James lived in both Israel and Egypt as a child, but when James was four years old, his father left their family. Struggling with severe

ADD Addition (usually signified by the plus symbol ) is one of the four basic operations of arithmetic, the other three being subtraction, multiplication and division. The addition of two whole numbers results in the total amount or '' sum'' of ...

, James explained that he was drawn into art and tattooing from a young age, disclosing that his father had tattoos and was a painter. James moved to the United States around age 11 where he lived with his paternal grandparents before moving to Miami at age 12. At the age of 15, James received his first tattoo, an experience that left him determined to become a tattoo artist, himself. In his adolescence, James moved back to Israel and entered military service in the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

as an Infantry

sniper A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision r ...

Career

In 1992, he started his apprenticeship with tattoo artist Lou at ''Tattoos By Lou''. He is the co-owner (with Chris Núñez) of the

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and artificial island, man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the ...

tattoo parlor Love Hate Tattoos, the subject of the

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

program, ''

Miami Ink ''Miami Ink'' was an American reality show that ran on TLC from 2005–2008 and follows the events that took place at a tattoo shop in Miami Beach, Florida. The show led to several spin-offs, including the shows ''LA Ink'', ''London Ink'', ''N ...

''. James also co-owns the DeVille clothing company with Núñez and Jesse Fleet, and the Miami

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

Love Hate Lounge, with Núñez and two other close friends. He has also created designs for

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent p ...

's RAZR V3

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...

s. His wife, Jordan, gave birth to their first child, Shayli Haylen James on 3 August 2008. Their second child, a daughter named Nalia, was born 8 May 2012. James has also recently invested in a jewelry line, Love Hate Choppers Jewelry, with Boston jeweler Larry Weymouth. In 1996 he lived for a few months in Denmark, where he did tattoos. He revealed on his blog that he was moving to New York and that his new show ''

NY Ink ''NY Ink'' is an American reality documentary television series that debuted June 2, 2011 on TLC. TLC renewed the series for a second season in August 2011, also noting that the series' first season averaged 1.3 million viewers per episode. Film ...

'' planned to begin filming in March 2011. The show premiered on 2 June 2011. Season 2 of

premiered in December 2011 and ran through 1 March 2012. It was announced that Ami James was opening a tattoo studio, 'Love Hate Social Club' in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, UK in November 2012. The tattoo studio had a number of guest tattoo artists including, Darren Brass, Megan Massacre and Chris Núñez. In 2013 James teamed up with

PETA Peta or PETA may refer to: Acronym * Pembela Tanah Air, a militia established by the occupying Japanese in Indonesia in 1943 * People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization * People Eating Tasty Animals, an ...

in an ad for their "Ink Not Mink" campaign. James also co-founded ''Tattoodo'', an online platform for getting a custom tattoo design, which launched on 9 May 2013. In 2022, James became a judge on ''

Ink Master ''Ink Master'' is an American reality competition television series that originally aired on Paramount Network (formerly called Spike), premiering on January 17, 2012. The show features tattoo artists who compete in various challenges assessing th ...

'' during its fourteenth season, replacing Nuñez and

Oliver Peck Oliver Peck (born July 29, 1971) is an American tattoo artist, restaurateur, and reality television personality. Along with guitarist Dave Navarro and tattoo artist Chris Nunez, he was a judge on the competition reality television show '' Ink M ...

References

External links

Online StoreOfficial Blog
Love Hate Tattoos

on TLC * {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Ami 1972 births Living people American tattoo artists Israeli television personalities American television personalities American people of Romanian descent American people of Israeli descent