Apo Whang Od (Legendary Filipino mambabatok Tattoo Artist)

Meet Apo Whang-Od, the 106-Year-Old Woman Keeping an Ancient Filipino Tattooing Tradition Alive

"We find Whang-Od by her house, sitting on a low footstool on the dirt floor, preparing her tools to dot a client on his arm. She is dressed in her usual “accidental hipster grandma” style, wearing a puffy bomber over track pants and a paisley bandana around her forehead. The outer walls of Oggay’s home are covered with tour group-sponsored tarps of her likeness, a reminder of the transactional, touristy nature of this exchange. We are, after all, neither warriors nor Butbut maidens ready for marriage. It is an honor for outsiders like us to be given these sacred markings, one we do not deserve."