Ami James

Ami James was born in 1972 in Israel

Ami James was born on 6 April 1972 in Sharm El Sheikh, then under Israeli control. His American-born father converted to Judaism, moved to Israel and joined the army, where he met James's Romanian-born mother. His father, a painter with tattoos, left the family when James was 4.

James struggled with severe ADD and was drawn to art from a young age. He moved to the United States around age 11 to live with his paternal grandparents, and then to Miami at 12. After getting his first tattoo at 15, he decided to become a tattoo artist.

He returned to Israel for military service in the IDF and served as a sniper in the Golani Brigade.

In 1992 he began an apprenticeship at Tattoos By Lou. He later co-owned Love Hate Tattoos in Miami Beach with Chris Núñez, the subject of Miami Ink, as well as the DeVille clothing company and the Love Hate Lounge nightclub. He designed for Motorola's RAZR V3 phones, starred in NY Ink from 2011 and opened a studio in London in 2012.

In 2013 he co-founded Tattoodo, an online platform for custom tattoo designs. In 2022 he became a judge on Ink Master. He is married to Jordan, and they have two children.