What lies beneath: people with full-body tattoos bare all – in pictures

What makes someone want to get tattooed all over? Ten enthusiasts reveal all

Portraits by Alan Powdrill. Interviews by

Fri 23 Oct 2015 08.00 EDT Last modified on Mon 2 Jul 2018 10.00 EDT

  • Philip Yarnell, 27, Southend-on-Sea

    I got my first tattoo at 17, which was a bit naughty: it’s not legal until you’re 18. I hate it now – a bracelet of elephants round my ankle – but it reminds me of the mate who did it. I’m a tattooist now, and I have tattooed my mum. She was more bothered when I cut all my hair off than when she found out I had a tattoo.I don’t plan my tattoos; it all happens in the moment. It’s better that way, more spontaneous.

  • Izzy Nash, 48, Maidstone

    I was 16 when I got my first tattoo, a tiny rose on my thigh. For me, it’s about being different. You’re never naked, because you’re covered in artwork. My bottom is always the talking point: I’m forever showing people.I’m talking with my tattooist in Brighton about doing my neck and my legs – then there’s only my stomach left. My kids love it. I’ve told them, “When I die, you need to skin me, dry me out and put me on the wall.”

  • Graham Platts, 58, Cleethorpes

    I was 51 when I started getting tattoos. I wanted one in my teens but my parents wouldn’t have agreed. About 10 years ago, I stopped smoking and thought, “I ought to do something with the money, to have something to show for it”; I decided to get a tattoo. I got one on my right arm. Then I got one on my left arm. Then on my right leg, then my left leg – it just escalated. I’ve replaced one addiction with another, but a healthier one. When I see a gap, I want it filled. Once I’m covered, I think I’ll start saving for a nice holiday.

  • Kimmy Clancy, 30, Ruislip

    I got my first tattoo at 17; they weren’t as hot on underage tattooing then. I had a gun on my hip. I thought it made me the coolest person in the world – but looking back, not so much. On my back, I have lyrics from a Bob Dylan song, To Make You Feel My Love, with a heart locket that says “Mum”. It wasn’t that painful – unlike the Kiss one on my stomach. (Kiss are my favourite band. I’ve tagged them in photos in the hope they’ll see it, but no response yet.) That took several four-hour sessions. It was worse than childbirth. But I won’t stop until I’m covered.

  • Stefano Chila, 33, London

    I’ve got 12 hours left until my back is finished. I try to do two hours once a month, or every other month, depending on how much money I have. I want the Japanese-style full body suit: everything but the face. I’ve never been tempted to tattoo my face or hands; I think it would ruin the harmony.I’ve always worked in places where I could roll my sleeves up, no problem. I have been interviewed in more conservative places, where I’ve been asked to cover them. When I’m asked that, I know it’s not the place for me.

  • Victoria Clarke, 37, Coventry

    My tattoos are part of who I am, and I’ll always love my bodysuit, now and when I’m 80. The respect and love I get for what I look like is what it’s all about.

  • Alex Coates, 49, Whitby

    When I started getting tattooed, over 30 years ago, it was frowned upon. It was the skinhead era, and I saw a guy with two swallows on his hands. That was it: I wanted them, too. My mum wasn’t happy. Now I’m completely covered. Recently, I asked my mother if she’d mind if I got some little tattoos on my face: a cross and a few dots. She said, “As long as they’re not too big.” I had it done that day. I woke up the next day, and thought, “What have I done?” But everyone said they looked cool and now I love them.

  • Drew Beckett, 32, London

    When I was 27, my hair fell out. I have total alopecia. I decided to reinvent myself so that the first thing people see is my tattoos, rather than the fact I have no eyebrows. I thought, “I’m a blank slate.” I started, embarrassingly, with a 90s tribal dragon on my stomach. I was 18, and thought it was the coolest thing ever. The artist was a Goldsmiths graduate called Thomas Hooper, who is now an internationally famous tattooist. I’m a civil servant; I check with my boss before I get a tattoo. If I was told no, that would be OK. It’s good manners to ask.

  • Ness, 40, Crawley

    I got my first tattoo when I was 18. Barbed wire around the arm was popular then, but because I’m a pacifist I got a vine of rosebuds instead. In high school, I just knew I wanted to be heavily tattooed. I was fascinated by the art and history, and did my degree dissertation on tattooing. My family are all tattooed.I was a youth worker for 14 years, and when I showed my tattoos to the kids with problems, it was the ultimate icebreaker. On one thigh I have a portrait of my nephew pulling a face. He lives in London and I live in Gatwick; this way I get to see him every day.

  • ‘Barbed wire was popular, but I’m a pacifist.’

  • Bill, 63, London

    I’m not the obvious kind of guy who has tattoos: I’m 63, I’ve had a public school and Oxbridge education, a City career, a wife and kids. I like the incongruity: I live this upper-middle-class respectable life but have “No fucking way” tattooed on my chest. I was well into my 40s when I got the idea. After about three years of thinking about it, I got a pathetic bit of barbed wire on my arm. Now, 15 years later, I’m three appointments from being completely covered, apart from my hands and neck.

  • ‘I’m not the obvious guy who has tattoos.’These photographs will be shown at Mother London from 11 November. Go to alanpowdrill.com for details
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