This is Elaine Davidson on June 05, 2008, the most pierced woman in the world with 5,920 piercings as of May, 2008. I wasn’t sure about the etiquette of approaching her for a photo. Usually, we’re taught not to stare at the different or the strange. It’s the liberal middle-class thing to do—accept everyone as they are and try to treat them as normal. But when the difference is self-inflicted? To be honest, I wasn’t thinking about etiquette at all. I blurted my request before the concern for good manners even crossed my mind. “Can I take your picture?” “Yes, but it’ll cost you £2.” “I don’t have £2. If I give you a £5 note, can I take extra photos?” “Sure.”
Elaine is a nurse by profession, so presumably she does her piercing in a sterile environment. She has more than 500 piercings in her genitalia. She’s Brazilian, but fears returning to the country of her birth. For the last ten years she has called Scotland her home and frequents Edinburgh’s Royal Mile where I took this photo. Why does she do it? She says she’s motivated by pain.
Sheesh. I had another question for her, too, but by then my inner censor had finally got my tongue in check.