Man with 90% of body covered in tattoos claims extreme look 'opens doors for him'

An extreme body modder has revealed why he has covered over 90% of his body in ink.

Andreas Stauffiger, an industrial food operator and volunteer firefighter, has spent more than £26,000 on altering his body. Covering himself head-to-toe in tattoos, apart from his mouth, he also has 11 piercings, a split tongue, inked eyeballs and genital modification. Despite some people calling him “a criminal”, he claims his look “opens doors” for him as people are too fascinated to ignore him.

“I was always fascinated with all kinds of body modifications because I have extreme facial blindness,” the 45-year-old from Zurich, Switzerland, said. “I don’t recognise faces, even the faces of close friends unless there is something special about it. I can recognise tattoos or piercings, things like that.”

Facial blindness, known as prosopagnosia, is a neurological disorder that causes an inability to recognise faces. There is no treatment and it can cause difficulties in recognising emotions, age, gender and even objects.

He said: “My face is my favourite thing I’ve modified. The face ink, in combination with my inked eyes and tongue split is the best. When I saw my heavily inked face in the mirror for the first time, it was very special. It took me a few days to recognise myself again. I would do it again and again.”

Getting his first tattoo at the age of 18, a dolphin on his upper right arm, Andreas fell in love with modifications. Since then, he has gained over 100 tattoos, forming a full-body suit. He has even invested in a tattoo gun and hand poke stick so he can add to his ink.

He said: “I really love homemade tattoos, they are very powerful to me. Most of my close friends have already done tattoos on my skin. Those mean a lot to me.”

Despite loving his aesthetic, it has caused issues, with people judging him due to his appearance. He said: “My family are not happy with my modifications. But they are respecting it. I think the time of ‘all inked people are criminals’ is over. There is absolutely no problem with my look, I force no one to mess with me. Heavily inked people receive a lot of discrimination, but I am very lucky with a good job. People take me as I am and, so far, no one has made a complaint about me, as far as I know.”

Using his looks to his advantage, Andreas believes his ink works in his favour. He said: “My appearance gives me respect and I know how to use this to my advantage. There are some moments when people look at me for the first time and think I’m weird. But I like that very much, it opens doors between those people and me as they are fascinated. Sometimes, people ask me to take pictures with them.”

Encouraging others to accept their unique side, Andreas hopes to one day remove prejudice against heavily tattooed people. He added: I’m a very open man, trying to open doors and show that inked people are the same as non-inked people. I hope to show that people should judge for someone's actions, not how someone looks. I am very happy with my appearance and I would do it again.”