From full sleeve to clean slate: Brazil’s onetime most-tattooed man is erasing his past, one laser pulse at a time.
Leandro de Souza, a 36-year-old photographer from Bagé in Brazil’s southernmost state, spent two decades turning himself into a walking canvas.
The Brazilian had more than 170 inkings covering about 95% of his body, a feat that won him the “most tattooed” title at the Santa Rosa International Tattoo Expo in 2023. 7
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After a religious conversion roughly two years ago, de Souza decided to remove the artworks.
He subsequently started documenting the painstaking reversal on Instagram and in local interviews, trading a shock-value aesthetic for a quieter life, steady work and family responsibilities.
The break with his old image was abrupt and personal.
“I didn’t fee